14a Trials & Transmutations
by Margaret Price
Summary: Once again, the 6th Doctor finds himself being summoned by the Time Lords. Only this time, he is not the one being put on trial for genocide. Rating for violence.
1. Part One: Urgent Message

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** This novel length story was previously published in it's own zine by Chaos Unlimited.

The story format has been stolen unapologetically from the "Trial of a Time Lord" series. It is broken into six parts with an addendum at the end that gives the story within the story in chronological order. This will make more sense as you read on...

* * *

**TRIALS & TRANSMUTATIONS**  
By Margaret Price

**PART ONE  
SUMMONED**

**CHAPTER 1**

**URGENT MESSAGE  
**

The enormous space station spread out and sparkled like a jewel-studded star, its many arms reaching out, stretching toward infinity. A single spire rose from its center, the lights affixed to its surface seeming to twinkle in time with the stars surrounding it. An elegant structure hanging alone in the vastness of space.

Directly above the central spire, the TARDIS hovered as though contemplating the station's very existence. Within the time machine's impossibly large interior, the Doctor stood motionless beside the control console, his eyes fixed on the scanner screen. He, too, was contemplating the space station, but not for aesthetic reasons. The coordinates had been included in an urgent message from Gallifrey. His first thoughts had been to ignore it. _It would serve them right after what they put me through,_ he thought a little self-righteously. The last time he had been to a similar Gallifreyan outpost, he had been put on trial for his very lives.

Now, here they were again, calling him back as if absolutely nothing had happened, requesting his attention on an urgent matter. _No, that wasn't it_. Glancing back at the communication link, he reread the transmission. "A matter of the gravest urgency," he said with an indignant snort. He turned back to the screen, his face darkening further. "What've I done to upset you now?" he sighed wearily.

Having come this far already, it seemed silly to just leave without finding out what they wanted, the Doctor rationalized. Not that he had to rationalize at all. His curiosity had been piqued and there would be no stopping him until he learned what all the fuss was about. He hit the dematerialization switch and the TARDIS disappeared, reappearing a few seconds later inside a circular storeroom. The floor was decorated with the ornate figure eight pattern of the seal of Rassilon, the Police Box making a perfect bull's eye at its center as it materialized.

The Doctor popped his head out and looked around, another frown creasing his usually bright and cheerful face. The room was empty.

"Ah, Doctor," a voice said as he stepped from the door. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

The Doctor turned, the frown on his face deepening further. The newcomer was dressed in the ornate ceremonial robes of the Time Lords. To his credit, the man was not wearing the stiff high collar that always reminded the Doctor of an enormous butterfly.

"This _can't_ be good," the Doctor muttered under his breath. Putting on a brave face, he smiled. "Hello. When I got your message, I must confess to being more than a little curious. It isn't often I get polite requests from Gallifrey." To his own surprise, the Doctor actually recognized the man as he drew nearer. "Cardinal Eustis, isn't it?"

The equally surprised Eustis inclined his head. "I didn't think you'd remember me, Doctor."

"Yes, well… The last time the High Council decided they wanted me, they put me on trial for my lives." The Doctor's voice dropped in pitch. "And I remember you were one of the few jurists who wasn't a party to that travesty of justice."

Eustis cleared his throat, clearly embarrassed. "No." He held out a hand, and then turned toward the door. "This way, Doctor."

The Doctor did not move. "Before I go anywhere, I want to know why you sent for me."

Readily understanding his guest's reluctance, Eustis smiled reassuringly. "This will come as a bit of a shock, I'm sure, but—I need your help."

The Doctor blinked. "Really?"

"Yes. It's to do with Eldeberon…" the Cardinal began.

"Eldeberon?" A dark cloud passed over the Doctor's face, the events all too fresh in his mind. "Tragic business."

"Yes," came the somber reply. "I'd like you to appear at the inquiry about it."

Amazingly, the Doctor was at a loss for words. This was the last thing he expected to hear.

"You were there, Doctor," Eustis reminded firmly.

"Yes, well…er, um…if you think it'll help…" the Doctor stammered out finally. "When is this inquiry to convene, anyway?"

"Today."

Make that the second last thing he expected.

* * *

Within minutes of his arrival, the Doctor found himself being whisked away by a small mob of individuals who claimed to be preparing him for his testimony. Instead, they all seemed to talk at once, each having a differing opinion on how the Doctor was to behave during questioning. Within minutes, they were embroiled in a heated disagreement on points of law, codes of conduct, presentation of evidence and anything else that could possibly be argued over. So busy were they with their legal battle that they failed to notice the Doctor slip out of the room.

One of Eustis' aides was just passing in the hall and watched in mild amusement as the Time Lord made his escape. The Doctor turned and came face to face with the grinning man, who smiled sympathetically and volunteered to escort him to Cardinal Eustis' chambers where he could await the start of the inquiry in peace.

"I expected to find the Cardinal here already," the Doctor remarked in mild surprise, looking around the empty room.

"I'm sure Cardinal Eustis will be along momentarily," the aide replied as he straightened the Inquisitor's desk, laying out the paperwork he had brought with him.

The Doctor nodded, strolling casually around the room. He paused at the door leading to the courtroom, taking it in with a shudder, the memory of his false trial returning vividly to mind. This room had a slightly different layout. There was a gallery area behind the Inquisitor's station, which was currently devoid of spectators, something that struck him as odd. His own trial seemed to have been standing room only. At the back of the gallery was the enormous screen connected to the Matrix of Time. At its base sat a small shadowbox, a blue light dancing across its front. While this unobtrusive object blended in with the ostentatious trappings of the room, the Doctor knew it had a more practical purpose. The device was a barrier generator and would prevent any Alterran within range from changing form, or transmuting, and reduce their strength to human levels. The Doctor had a sudden, horrible feeling he knew the real reason he had been asked to appear.

"May I get you anything while you wait, sir?" his escort asked from the opposite doorway.

"No, nothing," the Doctor replied absently. A sudden thought struck him and he asked hurriedly, "Tell me, is anyone else to appear in this inquiry against…um, against…?"

"Prince Jason of Tel-Shye," the bailiff said helpfully. "I don't know, sir."

"Thank you." His worst fears confirmed, the Doctor turned back to look into the courtroom. He had parted company with his former traveling companion immediately following the events on Eldeberon. Unlike all the other times, however, this was to be their last. He had told the Alterran in no uncertain terms to never contact him again.

When Eustis finally arrived, he found the Doctor beside himself with anger. "Just when were you planning on telling me I was going to be testifying against Jason?" he exploded. "Just before I was called? Or were you going to wait and let me find out as I walked in?"

"Doctor, please calm down," Eustis soothed. "This is a criminal inquiry, not a trial."

"So you say!" the Doctor snapped. "I have no doubt you've been given full authority to turn this inquiry into a trial at a moment's notice. And I'm sure the High Council will be ready to step in just as soon as—" He broke off as another thought struck him. His voice dropped in pitch and took on a threatening edge. "I am_ just_ a witness, aren't I? Or am _I_ a part of this _criminal_ inquiry, too?"

Eustis squirmed in his seat under the Doctor's angry glare and cleared his throat nervously. "Well…as one of the only survivors, Doctor, you would naturally come under suspicion."

"Naturally," came the icy reply. _"And?"_

"And…using the Matrix archive, the judiciary tribunal viewed Eldeberon's final moments." Eustis paused before adding, "And what followed."

The Doctor straightened, a stunned look coming to his face as he realized what he meant. "They saw our confrontation."

"Yes. The High Council felt it was rather straight forward from there."

The Doctor did not have an answer for this, asking instead, "Just how did Gallifrey get jurisdiction in this, anyway?"

"Ah, that was the Prince's doing, I'm afraid," Eustis replied in an almost defensive tone. "He used his Ambassadorial status to get past the transduction barriers and gain access to the Capitol. Then he—I'm not sure confronted is the right word here. He actually accused Cardinal Wythe of being a party to a plot that ended with…well, you know the rest of that."

"Cardinal Wythe?" the Doctor repeated in disbelief. "Of the High Council?

"He was quite adamant. Had to be physically removed from his office."

"Arrested, you mean."

"Yes. It was quite a scene, as I understand it."

Having witnessed Jason in more than one fit of pique, the Doctor could easily envision the scene, as well as the reactions of the sedate Time Lords when confronted with the volatile Alterran when in an inflamed state of mind. "Yes, I can imagine."

The Cardinal smiled but did not reply.

"So what now?" the Doctor wanted to know. "Am I supposed to cool my heels in here until I'm called?"

"No, no. You may observe the proceedings from the gallery, if you wish."

The Doctor considered a moment. "Does Jason know I'm to appear?"

"I believe so," Eustis replied. "Will that be a problem?" The last thing he wanted was a repeat of the scene in Wythe's office.

The Doctor hesitated, recalling the harsh words and finality of his parting with his one time traveling companion. There was no telling how the Alterran would react to his presence. He only knew it would be less than sanguine. "I don't know. We'll just have to see how it goes."

Eustis gave him a disapproving look. "I won't stand for any disruptions, Doctor."

"I wasn't planning on starting any," came the injured reply.

"You may observe from the gallery. And I stress the word _observe_. It's a practice I believe you're not usually in the habit of making."

"Ah! Yes," the Doctor said guiltily. "Point taken."


	2. Inquiry

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **The name of the planet in question - Eldeberon - is pronounced el-DEB-er-on.

* * *

**CHAPTER 2  
**

**INQUIRY**

The Doctor took a seat in the empty gallery, which gave him an excellent view of the room. To one side was the area designated for the defense, the prisoner's dock alongside. He shifted his gaze to the opposite side where the prosecution would be making its case. The Doctor thought they looked like opposing pulpits uprooted from an ancient Gothic cathedral and replanted in this hall of Time Lord justice. Between them and directly in front of the gallery was an ornate throne-like affair where the Inquisitor would be ensconced. There was a curved desk before the Inquisitor's chair that already had several folders laid out on it. The Doctor had to fight the urge to sneak down and take a peek at them.

He was still taking in the room when the prosecutor entered. He gave the Doctor a startled look, having thought himself to be the first to arrive. The Doctor was relieved to see he did not dress in the same black garb that the Valyard had in his own trial. In fact, he was nothing like that sinister figure at all. The role of prosecutor had fallen on the unlikely shoulders of a man named Fitzhugh. He was a small, unimposing, bookish looking individual who did not seem the least bit of a threat. Nevertheless, the Doctor knew all too well that looks could be very, very deceiving.

A few minutes later, the defense council Cardinal Shelby entered the room. He exchanged a few words with Fitzhugh before going to his own place to prepare for the start of the inquiry. After seeing the two main players, the Doctor could not help wondering if there were a library somewhere short two of its caretakers.

By the time some far away clock struck the hour, Cardinal Eustis was taking his place at the front of the room. He had changed into the impressive white and gold robes of the Inquisitor of the court, as well as the highly starched ornate collar that rose high above his shoulders. He looked from Shelby to Fitzhugh, who bowed in turn, and then motioned that they be seated. The Doctor made another visual sweep of the room. Other than those seated before him and the guards stationed at the doors, the room was empty.

"This criminal court of inquiry will come to order," Eustis announced, giving his gavel a tap on the desk. "Guard Captain, you may bring in the accused."

All eyes turned to the main doors as Jason was led in, his appearance shocking the Doctor. The Alterran usually took on the form of a tall, slender human male in his mid-thirties. Normally he had a healthy glow about him but now he looked gaunt and haggard, his usually bright sparkling eyes dull and lifeless, his face almost completely expressionless. He was dressed in a dark three-piece business suit rather than the royal finery that was his right, or the jeans and sweatshirt that were his custom. He was also wearing ankle and body chains attached to a pair of heavy handcuffs, which, like the barrier generator, would prevent him transmuting. The Doctor had to fight to keep himself from jumping to his feet and crying out in protest. Then he wondered why Shelby did not do the same.

The Prince did not even look up as he shuffled his way to the prisoner's dock. He stepped up and waited placidly as the chains on his feet were fastened to the floor. His only visibly reaction came when at last he lifted his gaze and saw the Doctor in the gallery, a look of abject betrayal passing across his face.

"The accused will remain standing," Eustis commanded. "Let the record show that Crown Prince Jason of Tel-Shye is present at this court of inquiry, the purpose of which is to establish the facts surrounding his involvement in the events on the planet known to its inhabitants as Eldeberon." He turned to the prosecutor. "Lord Fitzhugh, the charges."

"Thank you, my lord," the prosecutor said politely. He paused a moment to reposition his spectacles to focus on the document in his hand before reading off the litany of charges. By this time, the Doctor had stopped listening, his mind returning to the events on Eldeberon and all that happened after his arrival. It was not until Eustis spoke again that he returned to reality.

"Your royal highness, do you have anything to say in the face of these charges?" the Inquisitor asked. His next statement stunned the Doctor. "And I remind you, your Ambassadorial status has been revoked and will not shield you in this matter."

There was a long silence. Jason stood motionless, his eyes still fixed on the Doctor. Eustis exchanged an inquiring look with Shelby, who shook his head and made a helpless shrug. He had no idea if his client even desired to make a statement. The Inquisitor tried again. "Your highness? Do you wish to make a statement?"

The Doctor saw anger suddenly ignite in Jason's eyes, his expression changing, emotion bubbling to the surface. Upon seeing this, he knew his former traveling companion would be making a statement—Eventually.

Jason slowly lowered his gaze, fixing his intense stare on the Inquisitor, his striking blue eyes locking on his face. The Doctor noticed that Eustis actually flinched and suddenly realized, with a bit of a jolt, that everyone in the room was completely terrified of the captive Alterran.

When the Prince finally spoke, his voice carried every ounce of his suppressed anger. "The charges are true and they are not true. Accurate and erroneous. Deception and reality. I am guilty." He paused and looked straight at the Doctor. "And I am _innocent,_" he stated flatly.

Eustis blinked, exchanging a baffled look with Shelby and Fitzhugh. "I see. An interesting statement, to say the least," he said in a bewildered tone. "My lord prosecutor, if you would begin."

Fitzhugh gave a slight bow and began laying out the prosecution's case. He outlined the events on Eldeberon, using entries from Jason's personal logs as his corroborating evidence. The Doctor listened as the case against his Alterran friend grew stronger and stronger. Many of the facts presented seemed slightly different from his recollection of events. When it came time for him to testify, he wasn't surprised that Fitzhugh only focused on certain aspects of the case. He was, however, more than a little surprised when defense council did not object to several of the statements he made. Even as he made them, the reasons for an objection flew into the Doctor's mind, yet Shelby was as silent as the man he was supposed to be defending.

The prosecution rested its case on the fourth day, and having met its burden of proof, Eustis ordered the inquiry concluded. When court reconvened the next day, it would be as a criminal trial, the outcome of which could well be the Prince's execution.

The gavel came down and Eustis retired to his chambers. The Doctor watched with mixed emotions as Prince Jason was led away. He had been closely observing the Alterran during the course of the inquiry. With each passing day, he appeared more sullen and withdrawn. Then after the Time Lord's testimony, it was as if he had given up entirely, rarely even raising his head.

The Doctor threw a glance in the direction of Eustis' office and sat thoughtfully for several minutes, mulling over the last four days and arguing with himself over the pros and cons of what he knew he had to do. Finally, he resolved to throw caution to the wind and crossed to the Inquisitor's chambers. Eustis was about to hear from the defense a great deal sooner than he thought.


	3. Council For The Defense

**CHAPTER 3**

**COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENSE  
**

Cardinal Eustis sat staring at the Doctor in a stunned silence. "Doctor, do you have any idea what you're saying?" he said at last. He had already dealt with one startling event before the Doctor came charging into his office with his extraordinary proposal.

"Of course I do. I've just said it," the Doctor replied seriously.

The Inquisitor shook his head. "No. I mean…"

"I know exactly what you mean, Eustis. Moreover, I know exactly what I'm saying. This was supposed to be an inquiry, but nobody involved seemed to be doing any inquiring," the Doctor pointed out sharply. "No one seems the least bit interested in knowing the _why_ in all this."

The man behind the desk sighed heavily. He had noticed the same thing himself. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I agree complete—" Eustis broke off and frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You astound me, Eustis."

"Why?"

The Doctor grinned. "Because you're a judge who's actually interested in learning the facts before rendering judgment."

"I shall take that as a compliment."

"It was meant as one." The Doctor sat down in a large easy chair and leaned back, stretching out his long legs. "Now for the bigger problem. Getting Jason to agree. The last time I saw him, I told him I never wanted to hear from him again. Then I go and turn up as the prosecution's star witness against him. Doesn't exactly make me number one on his hit parade, does it?"

Eustis gave him a slightly puzzled look. "Now I understand where his highness gets his unusual phraseology," he remarked. He sat back in his chair and studied the Doctor's set expression a moment. "I know this must be difficult for you, Doctor. You were friends a long time before all this, I believe."

"That's beside the point," the Doctor replied evasively. "It's the here and now I'm concerned with. Can you reassign defense council this late in the game?"

"Funny you should ask that…" Eustis said with a knowing smile. "Cardinal Shelby has just resigned as council for the defense."

"What? The day before he's supposed to—" The Doctor was incredulous. "Did he say _why_?"

Eustis shuffled through the papers on his desk, pulling out the resignation letter and scanning through it. "Let's see…Ah! He could not, in good conscience, continue—"

"In other words, he thinks he's guilty," the Doctor cut in sharply.

Eustis chose not to respond to this, saying instead, "I was preparing an order of continuance for his replacement when you, er, interrupted."

"Someone's already taken his place?" The Doctor was immediately suspicious, his eyes narrowing. "A member of the High Council, perhaps?"

"Cardinal Wythe has graciously volunteered," the Inquisitor replied, knowing the reaction this would provoke. He was not disappointed.

"Wythe!" Now the Doctor really was incredulous. "He's the one Jason tried to blame this conspiracy on in the first place. I can't see him agreeing to _that_."

"Nor I," Eustis agreed. He gave the Doctor a steady look. "You're sure you want to do this?"

"If the alternative is Cardinal Wythe, then yes. I'm sure."

"I'd better make it official." The Inquisitor turned and tapped the information into the computer terminal at the corner of his desk. He went on to fill out a document and affix a seal to the corner. "There. Now you'll be able to gain access to the holding area without being challenged," he said, handing the Doctor the document.

The Doctor barely looked at it, more interested in the answer to his next question. "Will I also be able to gain access to the Matrix archive?"

* * *

In another part of the massive space station, Prince Jason sat quietly in his specially designed prison cell. The large barred enclosure was in the center of an even larger room, a forcefield surrounding it on all sides. He was cross-legged on the bed, his back against the bars, his hands folded in his lap, and his eyes staring vacantly into space. Since his arrival at the station, this was how all who entered the room usually found him.

The door opened and Cardinal Eustis entered. He came and stood before the enclosure a moment, studying its silent occupant. "I believe you've already been informed of Cardinal Shelby's resignation," he said quietly.

"Yes," came the dull reply.

"Cardinal Wythe has generously volunteered to—"

Jason looked up sharply. "No!"

"Your highness, the availability of qualified persons is limited," Eustis said in a helpless tone. "I must designate council for you."

"Designate whoever you like," Jason replied coldly. "Just not Wythe."

"Is that your final word?"

"Yes." The Prince crossed his arms and sat back, staring at the floor again.

A ghost of a smile passed over Eustis' face. "Very well." He crossed to the door and waved a hand, beckoning to the Doctor to enter. They exchanged glances and then looked in the direction of the sulking Prince. "Good luck," the Inquisitor said quietly as he left.

Jason continued to stare at the floor. He heard Eustis leave, the door shutting behind him. A second man, his new defense council presumably, came and stood in front of the cell. He waited for the newcomer to issue forth the same florid tones as his previous council. When this did not happen, he sighed heavily.

"Well, aren't you going to say something?" he snapped impatiently as he looked up. Then his mouth dropped open in shock, his eyes growing wide as saucers.

"Hello, Jason," the Doctor said mildly.


	4. Will You Let Me Help You?

**CHAPTER 4**

"**WILL YOU LET ME HELP YOU?"**

Unable to take it in, Jason sat staring, his mouth agape. He looked the Time Lord up and down as if to make certain he were real. "_You're_ my defense council?" he said at last.

"Yes," the Doctor replied mildly.

"You're my defense council," the Alterran repeated, as though trying to convince himself of the fact.

"Yes."

Jason slowly got to his feet. This time his tone was one of outrage, and he spoke each word slowly and deliberately, "_You_…are…_my_…defense…council?"

"Jason, we've already established—" The Doctor broke off when the captive Alterran slammed his fist against the bars. Then he picked up a chair and started slamming it against the inside of his cell, roaring with anger. The Doctor watched this display in silence. His only reaction was to sigh heavily. He pulled up a chair and sat down, waiting until the ranting aristocrat had exhausted himself.

The commotion quite naturally attracted the attention of the guard outside. He burst in, weapon drawn, only to stop short when he saw the Doctor calmly sitting in a chair, leaning back with his arms folded. He threw a puzzled look in the direction of his raging prisoner. This was the most animated he had ever seen him. "Is everything alright, sir?" the guard asked.

The Doctor looked up and gave the guard a broad smile. "We're just getting reacquainted," he replied happily, making as though absolutely nothing were out of the ordinary. "You know how reunions are. Noisy affairs."

The security guard had no idea what he was talking about, but with no emergency to deal with, he left the room.

Just as the Doctor suspected, after several minutes Jason finally ran out of steam. He let the chair, now a mangled piece of metal, drop from his hands and slid to the floor, leaning back against the bars, panting from the effort. He refused to look in the Doctor's direction, keeping his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

"Well, now that you've got all _that_ out of your system," the Time Lord said disapprovingly, "perhaps we can talk."

"Talk?" the Prince spat back, still breathless from his tantrum. "_Now _you want to talk?"

"Yes. _Now_ I want to talk."

Jason pulled himself to his feet. "You didn't want to hear anything I had to say, remember?" he spat contemptuously. "You weren't going to get _sucked_ _in_ to any more of my deceptions!"

"Well, you are exceptionally adroit in that department."

"Gee, thanks. Was that a compliment or an accusation? I can't tell anymore," Jason retorted angrily, giving what was left of the chair a savage kick. He started pacing the interior of his cell, unable to stand still for a few seconds. "All I can tell is your fellow Time Lords have my head on the block, and you've very kindly handed them the axe to chop it off with."

The Doctor was clearly impressed. "That's a very good analogy."

"Thanks," the Alterran replied sulkily.

"And it doesn't alter the basic fact that I'm here now."

"To do what? Ease your conscience? You've been sitting there watching me for four days. _Four days!_ Now, suddenly, on the very day that the prosecution rests its case, you feel the urge to come and talk to me?"

"Do you think I've come to gloat?" the Doctor said in a slightly injured tone.

"Doctor, I haven't a clue why you're here," Jason growled. "It's obvious from your testimony you think I'm just as guilty as the rest of them."

"Jason…"

"Just say it! You think I'm guilty."

The Doctor drew a deep breath and shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortably. "I think all the evidence points in that direction, yes," he said evasively.

The Prince threw his head back and gave a bitter laugh. "And you accuse _me _of not giving straight answers!" he said sarcastically.

"Perhaps it's because I'm supposed to be defending you," the Doctor replied pointedly. He received an angry and skeptical look in reply. "Jason, I know you're angry with me—"

"Angry? _Angry! _Angry doesn't even begin to cover how I feel! How about outraged, infuriated, horrified, resentful, _betrayed,_" Jason thundered back. "Don't just sit there, Doctor, jump right in. You're the walking thesaurus. You had plenty to say before!"

"Yes, I did," the Time Lord admitted calmly, choosing not to rise to the bait. He was not going to get into another shouting match with Jason. Not this time. He did, however, make particular note of the fact that the ranting Alterran had stopped short of declaring outright hatred, which, ironically, was what he expected to hear upon entering the room.

"Now, if you think you can get hold of yourself," he went on in the same quiet voice, "I want you to forget everything I said and everything that's happened and answer me one simple question. Will you let me help you?"

The Prince finally stood still. He knew the Doctor well enough to realize the offer of help was genuine, and in the face of everything he had said when they last parted, the fact that he was offering at all was a shock. They had been friends a long time, but that had all fallen apart on Eldeberon.

Jason studied the man across from him a long time, but the Time Lord was giving nothing away. He simply studied the Alterran back, his face passive. Suddenly Jason realized that he couldn't read his old friend anymore. He was being deliberately closed out. The Doctor was a formidable opponent and deadly enemy. The Prince had seen this on more than one occasion. Now it seemed they were on opposing sides, the very thought of which terrified Jason beyond words.

Closing his eyes, the Prince drew a long shuddering breath, crossing his arms as though hugging himself. "I don't know if anyone can help me at this point," he said in a subdued voice. "I'm…trapped."

"Yes, I can see that."

"Please, don't make jokes, Doctor. It's not funny. Nothing about this is funny. They're accusing me of genocide. Genocide!" Jason started pacing again, his outrage growing at the same time. "_Me! _Who's never killed anyone in his life!" He looked straight at the Doctor, anger flashing in his sparkling blue eyes. "You know as well as I do what's going to happen tomorrow. They're going to flip the charges, stipulate to everything, go through the motions of a defense, and then have me executed!"

"That's the impression I'm getting as well."

Jason suddenly realized the implications of what he had just said and sank back onto the bed, his eyes focused into the distance. "My father must be going mad," he said in a suddenly subdued voice. He ran his fingers through his mass of black curls. "And poor Shadra—" He broke off, giving way to an involuntary shudder. _How did everything get so out of control? _he thought helplessly. Looking up, he said forcefully, "Doctor, I'm innocent! And nobody—not even _you_—believes me anymore. And I don't know why!"

"Jason…"

The Alterran was back on his feet, his anger exploding once again. "Suddenly I'm this psychotic megalomaniacal—" He growled in frustration, slamming his fist on the bars. "I know you don't believe me, Doctor, but I didn't suddenly lose all my morals and decide to take over the universe. I was set up by an expert. I had to be!"

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "What makes you say that?" he asked cautiously.

"Because—" Jason broke off and fought to get control of himself. He wouldn't exactly convince the Doctor that he was in his right mind if he kept raving like a lunatic. In a calmer voice, he said, "Because only an expert could manipulate things to the point where even _you_ turn against me."

The frown on the Time Lord's face deepened and he sat back in his chair.

"It started out as such a simple assignment and somehow it ended up…" The Prince left the sentence unfinished, knowing his friend was keenly aware of the outcome. "How could everything go so _wrong?_"

The pensive expression on the Doctor's face did not change. Despite his own personal feelings in the matter, his instincts told him there was a great deal more to the incident than he originally believed. This was becoming even more apparent as Jason finally started to open up. "I want you to tell me about it, from beginning to end," he said finally. "I want to know everything, Jason, and I mean everything. I don't have much time to get your defense put together and I've a feeling I'm going to need every second I can squeeze in."

Jason gave him a dubious look. "Will you even believe anything I tell you?"

This was a fair question under the circumstances and the Doctor studied the Prince's almost pleading expression. He had to remind himself that he was dealing with an Alterran who was a master of manipulation and deception. At the same time, he was also dealing with an Alterran who had been one of his closest friends for nearly two centuries. "I'll make a deal with you," he said evenly. "You promise to give me completely straight answers; no games, no ambiguities, no illusions, no deceptions."

"And…?"

"And I'll promise to believe what you tell me."

Jason considered a moment, only to realize that he didn't have a choice one way or the other. He drew a deep breath and sat down. "Alright. Where do I start?"

"Start with this simple assignment of yours."

**oOo END PART ONE oOo  
**


	5. Part Two: Defense: Day One

**PART TWO  
THE DOCTOR'S SIDE**

**CHAPTER 5**

**DEFENSE: DAY ONE  
**

The Doctor squeezed as much as he could in the short time he had been given to prepare Jason's defense. He arrived at the courtroom before anyone else and took stock of the room, this time from the defense rostrum. He spread his notes on the console and quickly reacquainted himself with the controls to the Matrix screen. Much of his presentation depended on the information stored in the Matrix of Time and the last thing he wanted was to be fumbling with the controls during court. Everything needed to go smoothly.

The Doctor did not even notice when Lord Fitzhugh arrived and only seemed to return to reality when Eustis emerged from his chambers and carried out his little ritual before calling for the Prince to be brought in.

The main doors opened and the shackled Alterran was led to his usual place at the prisoner's dock, just as he had on all the other occasions. This time, however, his defense council would do his job. As the guard moved to attach his chains to the floor, the Doctor commanded, "Stop!" and turned to the astonished Inquisitor. "My lord, I object! There is a barrier generator already present in court. Is it really necessary to continue to humiliate his royal highness in this manner?"

The dumbfounded Eustis sat staring and found himself wondering what he had let himself in for when he agreed to assign the Doctor as council for the defense.

It was the prosecutor who replied. "The charges warrant such precautions. The accused is a violent criminal."

"The operative word being _accused_. Nothing's been proved yet," the Doctor replied sharply.

"I can see the new council for the defense is going to keep you on your toes, Lord Fitzhugh," Eustis observed in an amused tone. "The Doctor's objection is sustained. The accused will remain unrestrained while in court."

Jason gave no indication of his feelings one way or the other as his bindings were removed. His only reaction was to rub his wrists as he took his place beside the Doctor, whom he acknowledged with a brief sideways glance. He had been given strict instructions to continue in his silence no matter what happened, which could be just about anything with the Doctor around.

"Let the record show that the Doctor has been designated as Prince Jason's defense council in place of Cardinal Shelby." Eustis stated, tapping his gavel to make it official. Then, just as Jason stated, the Inquisitor went on to transform the inquiry into a criminal trial. When the Doctor was asked if he would stipulate to all that the prosecution had presented, he hesitated, throwing an uncertain look in the Prince's direction. Jason met his gaze and nodded. What did he have to lose, anyway?

"The defense agrees to the stipulation," the Doctor replied finally.

"Is the defense ready to present its case?" the Inquisitor then asked.

The Doctor bowed slightly. "It is, my lord."

"Proceed."

The Doctor drew himself to his full height. "Since I'm rather new at this, I beg the court's indulgence if my presentation doesn't meet the usual court standards."

The Inquisitor gave an amused smile. "You're too modest, Doctor. The court recognizes that you are not a jurist."

"Thank you, my lord," the Doctor said, inclining his head. "And, with all due respect to Lord Fitzhugh, I don't think a few recordings and the secondary opinions of experts—none of whom were present at the events in question—can give an accurate accounting of the facts."

"This court does have _your_ testimony on record, Doctor," Eustis reminded firmly. "And you have been recognized as both an expert _and_ being present at the time many of these events took place."

"Exactly my point."

Eustis furrowed his eyebrows. "I beg your pardon?"

"I wasn't present for all the events."

The Inquisitor sighed heavily. The Doctor's logic was making him dizzy, which he suspected was the purpose. "Your point?"

"My apologies."

As the Doctor gave a slight bow, Jason closed his eyes, and bit his tongue. His friend was laying it on just a little too thick in his opinion.

"My intention is to show the events on Eldeberon as they actually occurred," the Doctor said calmly, "by utilizing the Matrix archive."

"This is outrageous!" Fitzhugh exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "The Matrix is the repository of knowledge, not a…a…carnival peep show!"

"Was that an objection, my Lord Fitzhugh?" Eustis asked astringently.

The prosecutor cleared his throat. "Yes, my lord, that was an objection."

"You are overruled."

"My lord!"

"The purpose of this trial is to put forth the _facts_," the Inquisitor reminded sharply, "and the Doctor may present his facts in any way he sees fit." The prosecutor opened his mouth only to close it. He bowed slightly and sat down. Eustis turned back to the Doctor. "Would I be correct in assuming your presentation will be a lengthy one, Doctor?" he asked calmly.

"You would, my lord," the Doctor replied.

"Than I suggest we begin."

The Doctor inclined his head. "Again, I ask the court's indulgence. Some of what I'm about to present will seem to repeat the evidence already on record," he began slowly. "It's the defense's position that much of that evidence was taken out of context. With the help of the Matrix, I hope to show this court the context in which these events took place."

The Inquisitor started to turn toward the screen behind him, turning back when the Doctor said quickly, "However, before I begin the extracts, I'd like to recall a witness."

Eustis scowled, throwing a quelling look over at Fitzhugh who looked as though he were about to pitch another fit. "Whom do you wish to recall?" he asked calmly.

"Guard Captain Reinhardt."

Although puzzled, Eustis said, "Proceed. Come forward, Guard Captain."

The equally puzzled Reinhardt stepped forward, bowing to the Inquisitor as he did so.

"You're the one who arrested Prince Jason. Is that correct?" the Doctor asked.

Fitzhugh was immediately on his feet. "My lord, must we go over—?"

"The Doctor did not have the opportunity to question the prosecution's witnesses," Eustis snapped impatiently. "Now unless you have a valid objection, sit down!"

The prosecutor inclined his head and meekly returned to his seat. The Doctor, meanwhile, acted as though nothing had happened. "Guard Captain?"

Completely thrown by all this, Reinhardt suddenly remembered he was supposed to be answering questions. "Yes, sir."

"It's the prosecution's contention that Prince Jason is a violent person," the Doctor went on. "At the time of his arrest, was he violent in any way?"

"He resisted when I attempted to remove him from Cardinal Wythe's office."

"Resisted? Did he strike you?"

"No, sir. He just…struggled," the officer replied.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Struggled? He didn't lash out physically in any way?"

"No, sir. He was just abusive."

"Abusive? I don't understand. You just stated that his highness didn't strike you."

"I meant verbally abusive, sir."

"Ah. In other words, he swore at you."

The Captain shifted nervously on his feet. "Yes, sir. In several languages."

The Doctor saw a smirk creeping onto Jason's face and gave him a quelling look before turning back to the uneasy officer. "Has Prince Jason been similarly abusive since his incarceration?"

"My lord, _really,_" Fitzhugh interrupted in a weary tone. "I cannot see the purpose of this line of questioning."

"Nor I," Eustis agreed. "Is there a point you're attempting to make, Doctor?"

The Doctor gave him an innocent look. "Well, I couldn't help noticing that the duty of moving Prince Jason from place to place belongs almost exclusively to Captain Reinhardt. Considering the fact that he's the one responsible for his arrest and incarceration, I wondered if his highness were resentful and similarly abusive during these times."

Eustis leaned back in his chair. "You raise a valid point," he replied. "Captain, has the accused spoken to you in such a manner since his arrest?"

"No, sir," the Captain replied. "He's the one who asked that I be assigned as his escort."

"_What?_" the Inquisitor gasped. "Did he say why?"

"Because…I'm not afraid of him," the Captain stammered, adding, "Sir."

The Doctor grinned at the reaction this induced. "Thank you, Captain," he said, adding, "I've finished with this witness."


	6. The Beginning

**CHAPTER 6**

**THE BEGINNING**

_Now to begin the real defense,_ the Doctor thought, steeling himself for the ordeal he knew was to come. He consulted his notes and turned to the Matrix screen that dominated the wall behind the gallery. He pressed a button on the console. The lights in the room came down and the screen lit up, displaying a spacecraft moving through deep space.

"This is the Glyateven prison ship GX5," he stated dramatically. "In an armed revolt, the prisoners have taken control of the ship and changed course. In their haste to escape, however, they have also damaged the engines and have been forced to set course for the nearest habitable planet."

The image of a solar system came into view and moved in on a large blue green planet. "This is the planet Eldeberon. It's here that the ship eventually crashes. During the ship's decent, the fuel will be jettisoned to elevate the possibility of a fire on impact. This decision, while valid at the time, will have disastrous repercussions in the weeks that follow."

The Doctor moved the image in closer, showing the crashed ship on the surface of the planet, the area around it a scene of desolation. "The ship came down in a coastal area at the same time a hurricane was making landfall. The natural disaster knocked out the area's radar equipment, blinding it to the approaching alien craft. As you can see, the crash site blended in perfectly with its devastated surroundings. No one even questioned the appearance of some four-hundred homeless individuals amongst the thousands of other displaced persons."

The image moved closer still, focusing on the interior of the spaceship where two men were organizing the others into groups. "These two men are the leaders of the revolt that ended in the crash. The core of what the Glyateven call a Triad. The third member was killed in the crash. It's the prosecution's contention that, after the death of this original member, Prince Jason insinuated himself into this position for his own personal gain."

The Doctor paused, his voice dropping in pitch. "It is my intention to show that this was not the case and that, rather than being the author of the holocaust that followed, Prince Jason was, in actuality, its most innocent of victims."

The Doctor took a sip of water, allowing his listeners time to absorb all he had said. Then he drew a deep breath. Time to get to the heart of his presentation. "My lord, these next extracts contain incidents in which I myself was involved. I should like to introduce them as a portion of my testimony."

Fitzhugh could not keep the amused smirk from coming to his face. "Doctor, you've already given testimony for the prosecution," he reminded.

"And now I'm giving it for the defense."

The prosecutor turned to the Inquisitor, protesting, "My lord, this is highly irregular."

"This court sees no reason why the Doctor may not add to his own testimony," the Inquisitor replied blandly.

Fitzhugh was taken aback by this and took a moment to collect his thoughts. "If the Doctor is presenting this evidence as a part of his testimony, will the prosecution be permitted to, er, question the witness during the presentation?"

This seemed a valid question and Eustis turned to the Doctor. "Is the presentation of your testimony of great length, Doctor?"

"It is, my lord."

"Do you have any objection to answering any questions that may arise during the course of your testimony?" Eustis then asked.

The Doctor hesitated, sensing a trap. "I have no objection to answering questions," he began slowly, "so long as the presentation isn't interrupted every five minutes."

Lord Fitzhugh snorted loudly, and made a show of being insulted.

"I should point out that there are breaks between sections in the presentation," the Doctor informed quickly.

"Very well, Doctor," the Inquisitor replied. "The prosecution may stop the Matrix extracts for questions." He turned to Fitzhugh, adding in a no nonsense tone, "Keeping interruptions to a minimum."


	7. Arrival

**CHAPTER 7**

**ARRIVAL**

The Doctor fought to keep a serious expression on his face as he began the first extract of his testimony. The image was another view of Eldeberon from space. It quickly zoomed closer to the surface of the planet. This time the devastation was not from a natural disaster. War was raging on this part of the planet. This became even more apparent as the image moved closer. Smoke could be seen rising from several sections of a large city; great craters dotting the ground, damaged and ruined buildings everywhere. Then in the midst of the devastation and destruction an incongruous patch of green grass.

"This is Founder's Park in the city the Glyateven are using for their headquarters," Doctor said as he continued with his narrative. "As you can see, this playground has been a battleground. It was here that I arrived on Eldeberon."

On cue, the TARDIS materialized on screen.

"I'd been on the planet's larger moon for some weeks doing repairs to the TARDIS console. When everything was put back together, my instruments picked up the cloud of fuel in the upper atmosphere. Since there were no indications that the planet had developed to the point of space travel, I chose to investigate…"

"You suspected an alien presence on a planet you had never visited from the presence of a chemical cloud detected from high orbit?" Fitzhugh asked in a disbelieving tone. "A cloud that could've been there for decades."

"Actually, it hadn't been there when I shut down the TARDIS systems," the Doctor informed blandly. "The fact that it appeared in that short a time led me to believe whoever put it there was still on the planet. And as it happens, I was right."

"It wasn't simply an excuse for you to meddle, Doctor?"

"Meddle?" The Doctor spoke the word as if he'd never heard it before.

"Your propensity for involving yourself in the affairs of other planets is legendary," the prosecutor replied in a mockingly awestruck tone.

Eustis banged the gavel before this argument went any further. "The Doctor is not the focus of this trial, Fitzhugh," he scolded.

The Doctor glared at his opponent before going on. "My investigations eventually led me to a group led by a man named Telvec…"

oOo

**Mission Day 46**

The Doctor was following a young man of about twenty along a deserted city street. They had been traveling for some time and had to maneuver around the craters and debris littering the area. Their journey finally ended at a tunnel entrance on a closed street.

"Here?" the Doctor asked, giving the tunnel a dubious look. He felt it was more likely an automobile would appear at any moment and run them over.

"Yes. I told Telvec all about you, Doctor," the young man replied excitedly.

"That's what I'm afraid of," the Time Lord sighed. He held out a hand. "Alright. Lead on, Philip."

Philip flashed an excited grin and vanished into the gloom.

The Doctor took in the huddled families as he followed his guide. He could not help feeling sorry for them. Telvec, the leader of the small militia group, was halfway up the tunnel, pacing back and forth near a bonfire that threw spectral shadows in all directions. It was the only source of light and heat available as far as the Doctor could determine.

"So, Philip, this is your savior! The man who'll restore order and return unity to all," Telvec sneered. "Isn't he also the one who says Tri Global is using _alien_ technology?" He looked the Time Lord up and down, taking in his brightly colored clothes. He stood out in stark contrast to the torn and dirty rags of the assembled survivors.

"Philip…exaggerates," the Doctor replied mildly. "I can help you fight alien technology," he stated flatly. "But it's up to you to restore order and unity. As I understand it, the people of this planet have been squabbling amongst themselves for decades. You set off this powder keg. Tri Global is just taking advantage of the situation."

"Listen to him!" Telvec said mockingly. "He thinks he's a Sage!"

"No, I'm the Doctor." The Time Lord turned a puzzled look in Philip's direction. "Sage?"

Since his arrival on Eldeberon, the boy had attached himself to him. Somehow he saw the Doctor as the ultimate savior and had cast himself in the role of manager, promoter and tour guide, much to the Doctor's annoyance. He was, however, an excellent source of information. "A Sage is an oracle, Doctor," the boy explained. "A very wise man."

"Ah, thank you, Philip," the Doctor replied as he turned back to Telvec. "Well, I may not be an oracle, but I have been called wise on more than one occasion."

The leader gave another laugh. "I'll bet you've never been called modest!" he cried. "So tell us, Sage Doctor, who are the aliens behind Tri Global's newest innovations?" He held out a hand, inviting his reluctant guest to take a seat on one of the numerous mismatched cushions near the fire. It was obvious he did not believe a word and was simply humoring Philip.

"I don't know as yet. I only know they left traces of their ship's fuel in your planet's upper atmosphere," the Doctor replied matter of factly as he took a seat.

Telvec stared at him with his mouth open, and then burst out laughing. "That's a good one, Doctor! Next you'll be telling us you're from the rings of Xaaxo!"

"No, actually, I'm from Gallifrey," the Time Lord corrected. "And that's beside the point. Just when did these innovative weapons start to appear?"

Telvec wasn't sure if the Doctor was actually serious or not. Everyone knew about Tri Global's newest weaponry. Unless he really was… The leader shook his head and decided not to think about that. "They started turning up about a month or so ago in my country. I've been fighting illegal weapons traffic for years. Now everything's upside down and Tri Global's selling the stuff on the open market!"

"The new weapons are incredible," Philip said in awe. "Laser sights, infrared imagery…"

"That's just technology," the Doctor replied. "And it isn't always the best thing to rely on."

"What about the dispersal disks?" Philip asked with a shudder.

The Doctor had forgotten about Tri Global's newest addition to its inventory. The disk caused a person's body to disintegrate completely; leaving no trace that they had ever existed. It was far less messy than bullets and explosives, but no less lethal.

The Doctor looked at Telvec. "And you don't think _that's _alien technology at work?" he asked sarcastically.

Telvec was finally forced to agree, going on to inform the Doctor that the group was planning a raid on the company's local headquarters later that night.

"To what end?" the Time Lord wanted to know.

"To find out about their distribution network, for a start," Telvec shot back defensively. "If I can knock that out, or learn who their suppliers are…"

"You can't just knock on the door and ask to look through their files," the Doctor objected practically.

"You don't have to come, Sage Doctor," Telvec said sarcastically.

"Telvec, you don't even know what you're looking for. How will you know if you find it?"

"I don't know!" Telvec snapped defensively. "Maybe I'll know it when I see it." He looked around, taking in the faces of the huddled figures in the tunnel. "I have to do something. In less than a month, Tri Global's gone from one little company to practically cornering the weapons market. Their business is war, and business is booming. And nobody seems to care anymore!" So saying, he turned, striding up the tunnel and out into the street, collecting the rest of his group as he went.

"You're going with him, aren't you, Doctor?" Philip asked helplessly, hopping from foot to foot. He could not seem to decide whether to stay with the Doctor or follow after Telvec.

The Doctor sighed heavily and led the way up the tunnel. "Yes. But I'm probably going to regret this."

oOo

The Doctor was referring to his notes as the extract ended. He was about to start the next section when Fitzhugh suddenly asked, "Did you regret it, Doctor?"

The Doctor looked up sharply. "Sorry?"

"Your statement to young Philip. Did you regret following Telvec?"

The Doctor blinked. He had never actually thought about it and had to consider the question carefully. "I don't know," he replied finally.

"Perhaps later." Fitzhugh gave a small smile. "I withdraw the question."

The Doctor began the next section and sat down, wondering what his adversary was trying to get him to say. He gave Jason a quick sideways glance, seeing a searching look in his eyes. He, too, wondered if the Doctor regretted what happened next.

oOo


	8. Corporate Raiders

**CHAPTER 6**

**THE BEGINNING**

_Now to begin the real defense,_ the Doctor thought, steeling himself for the ordeal he knew was to come. He consulted his notes and turned to the Matrix screen that dominated the wall behind the gallery. He pressed a button on the console. The lights in the room came down and the screen lit up, displaying a spacecraft moving through deep space.

"This is the Glyateven prison ship GX5," he stated dramatically. "In an armed revolt, the prisoners have taken control of the ship and changed course. In their haste to escape, however, they have also damaged the engines and have been forced to set course for the nearest habitable planet."

The image of a solar system came into view and moved in on a large blue green planet. "This is the planet Eldeberon. It's here that the ship eventually crashes. During the ship's decent, the fuel will be jettisoned to elevate the possibility of a fire on impact. This decision, while valid at the time, will have disastrous repercussions in the weeks that follow."

The Doctor moved the image in closer, showing the crashed ship on the surface of the planet, the area around it a scene of desolation. "The ship came down in a coastal area at the same time a hurricane was making landfall. The natural disaster knocked out the area's radar equipment, blinding it to the approaching alien craft. As you can see, the crash site blended in perfectly with its devastated surroundings. No one even questioned the appearance of some four-hundred homeless individuals amongst the thousands of other displaced persons."

The image moved closer still, focusing on the interior of the spaceship where two men were organizing the others into groups. "These two men are the leaders of the revolt that ended in the crash. The core of what the Glyateven call a Triad. The third member was killed in the crash. It's the prosecution's contention that, after the death of this original member, Prince Jason insinuated himself into this position for his own personal gain."

The Doctor paused, his voice dropping in pitch. "It is my intention to show that this was not the case and that, rather than being the author of the holocaust that followed, Prince Jason was, in actuality, its most innocent of victims."

The Doctor took a sip of water, allowing his listeners time to absorb all he had said. Then he drew a deep breath. Time to get to the heart of his presentation. "My lord, these next extracts contain incidents in which I myself was involved. I should like to introduce them as a portion of my testimony."

Fitzhugh could not keep the amused smirk from coming to his face. "Doctor, you've already given testimony for the prosecution," he reminded.

"And now I'm giving it for the defense."

The prosecutor turned to the Inquisitor, protesting, "My lord, this is highly irregular."

"This court sees no reason why the Doctor may not add to his own testimony," the Inquisitor replied blandly.

Fitzhugh was taken aback by this and took a moment to collect his thoughts. "If the Doctor is presenting this evidence as a part of his testimony, will the prosecution be permitted to, er, question the witness during the presentation?"

This seemed a valid question and Eustis turned to the Doctor. "Is the presentation of your testimony of great length, Doctor?"

"It is, my lord."

"Do you have any objection to answering any questions that may arise during the course of your testimony?" Eustis then asked.

The Doctor hesitated, sensing a trap. "I have no objection to answering questions," he began slowly, "so long as the presentation isn't interrupted every five minutes."

Lord Fitzhugh snorted loudly, and made a show of being insulted.

"I should point out that there are breaks between sections in the presentation," the Doctor informed quickly.

"Very well, Doctor," the Inquisitor replied. "The prosecution may stop the Matrix extracts for questions." He turned to Fitzhugh, adding in a no nonsense tone, "Keeping interruptions to a minimum."


	9. The Unthinkable

**CHAPTER 9**

**THE UNTHINKABLE**

The Doctor could not quite believe what he was hearing. "You can't mean that?"

TWO snatched a laser pistol from one of the guards and started across the room, stopping when Jason said blandly, "You're not going to use _that_, are you?"

The Leader gave him an annoyed scowl. "And what's wrong with this?" he demanded, holding up the weapon.

The Alterran gave him a long-suffering look and sighed heavily. "Well, for one thing, if you use that, you'll blow a hole through him _and_ the wall," he pointed out. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have a gaping hole in the wall with winter practically upon us."

Leader ONE snickered at this observation, much to TWO's annoyance.

Jason turned and started searching through a chest of drawers. After a moment, he pulled out a small caliber handgun. He quickly checked it over making certain it was loaded. "Here, use this," he said, holding out the weapon only to pull it back. "No, on second thought…" He turned a cold and angry look in the Time Lord's direction, his voice hardening, "I'll use it."

"You?" ONE replied, exchanging a surprised look with TWO.

"Yes. He tried to kill me once. I think I should return the favor," Jason replied bitterly. He looked down at the gun in his hand and then crossed to stand in front of the Doctor, who had been listening to this exchange in some bewilderment.

"Any final words of wisdom, Doctor?" the Prince asked.

"None that I can think of," the Doctor admitted. He was still trying to go along with whatever game his friend was playing, thinking he was making an elaborate show of things so he would be able to make his escape. He was about to learn the game was in deadly earnest. "I thought we'd worked all that out. Obviously, I was wrong."

"Worked it out?" Jason snarled viciously. "Worked it out!" Without warning, he grabbed the Time Lord by the throat with his free hand and thrust him back against the wall. Despite his size, the Alterran was considerably stronger than the Doctor and lifted his large frame several inches off of the floor.

The Doctor clawed at the hand at throat just to keep himself from choking.

"How does it feel? To know someone you thought was your friend might actually want to kill you? Terrifying? Sickening?" Jason hissed coldly. "Just apply a little pressure, isn't that how it goes? Who's going to save you now?"

"Are you going to shoot me or throttle me?" the Doctor gasped out.

The Alterran released his grip and the Time Lord dropped to the floor gasping and choking for breath. It took a moment for him to recover and he slowly returned to his feet, completely at a loss as to where this was leading.

Jason raised the weapon and took aim but did not fire.

"Try not to hit the window," TWO said mockingly, collapsing into a fit of the giggles.

Jason shot him a quick sideways glance and cocked the weapon, but still did not fire.

"Come now, THREE. Surely he's a big enough target for you," ONE jested. He stepped in front of the raised weapon, shoving the Doctor back against the wall and ripping open his waistcoat and shirt, exposing his bare chest. Exchanging an amused look with TWO, ONE stepped aside. "There. Is that easier for you?"

Jason's reply was to squeeze the trigger. The gun exploded and the Doctor felt a searing pain in his chest as he was thrown back against the wall. He fell heavily to the floor, not quite believing what had just happened. He had been working under the assumption that his friend would somehow get him out of the room. It had never even crossed his mind that the Alterran's threats were the real thing.

Jason knelt beside the downed Time Lord, looking him in the eye. "I've just put a bullet through your right heart, obliterating it completely," he informed matter-of-factly. "Within a few minutes you'll exsanguinate. Shortly after that you'll die and regenerate." He took out a small disk and held it up. "This stasis field generator will prevent that happening."

"It will prevent me bleeding to death, too," the Doctor gasped out painfully as the disk was pressed onto his shoulder.

A knowing smile came to the Alterran's face. He held up another disk. "Not if I scatter your molecules to the four corners of the universe."

"I can't believe this is all because of a single mistake."

"You know something, Doctor. Now we're even," Jason replied enigmatically and activated the stasis field. The Doctor shuddered, a painful gurgle escaping him before he went completely still. Jason activated the dispersal disk and stepped back, watching dispassionately as the Time Lord's body vanished into thin air.

oOo

Fitzhugh stood staring at the Matrix screen for several seconds. "Words…fail me," he said in a subdued voice. "We've already heard the testimony of, not one, but five noted members of the psychiatric profession who have concluded that the accused is an unbalanced individual. We have the sworn statements from his own physician, who has been treating the accused for more than eighteen years. Is what we've just witnessed your way of verifying that the accused is… unbalanced, Doctor?"

"I believe what you're trying to say is that your experts believe Prince Jason is a deranged lunatic with delusions of grandeur," the Doctor replied bluntly. "With all due respect to these learned professionals, their conclusions are nothing but a load of—" He broke off when Jason very quietly cleared his throat. "Psycho-babble," he said at last.

"The accused did exhibit violent tendencies—"

"He lost his temper!" the Doctor corrected sharply. "I read the reports, my lord prosecutor. And I must confess, if the situation were reversed, I would have lost my patience with those fine gentlemen as well."

Fitzhugh smiled thinly and then surprised everyone when he said, "My lord, I would like to amend the charges at this time. The Alliance between Alterrous and Gallifrey is quite specific in circumstances such as this."

"What circumstances would that be?" the Doctor asked sharply.

"For an Alterran to take the life of a Time Lord, the punishment is death," the prosecutor informed smugly.

"That's preposterous. On top of everything else, you want to add a groundless murder charge to your other allegations?" the Doctor said in an exaggerated disbelieving tone.

The prosecutor remained unfazed. "Do you deny that the accused did, in fact, shoot you through the right heart?"

"No."

"Did he admit to wanting to kill you?"

"No."

Fitzhugh blinked. "No?"

"He stated that he could prevent a regeneration," the Doctor corrected. "He also stated that I had, at one time, tried to kill him and that he was going to return the favor."

The prosecutor frowned. "Did you at one time try to kill the accused, Doctor?"

The Doctor drew a deep breath. "I'm afraid the answer to that is extremely complicated and would take far too long to explain than we have here. Suffice it to say, the answer is no, because it wasn't—" He blinked, suddenly realizing what Jason had been trying to tell him all those months ago. "It wasn't…me." He closed his eyes and groaned before turning to the Prince. "I am an imbecile," he said quietly.

Jason met his gaze and mouthed the words, "No comment."

Fitzhugh decided not to pursue the issue, asking instead, "Did you believe the accused intended to kill you?"

"No."

The Inquisitor intervened at this time. "Doctor, I realize you're acting as the accused's defense council," he began firmly, "but you must answer truthfully."

"My lord," the Doctor replied calmly, "until Prince Jason actually pulled the trigger, I was working under the assumption that it was all theatrics and he was somehow going to get me out of there."

"Let me rephrase the question," Fitzhugh said calmly. "After you'd been shot, did you then believe the accused meant to kill you?"

The Doctor hesitated before replying. "Yes."

"Was this violent attack provoked by you in any way?"

"No."

"Then I do not see the problem."

The Doctor gave him a piercing look before saying calmly, "I didn't die."


	10. Sanctuary

**CHAPTER 10**

**SANCTUARY**

Eustis had to stifle a laugh before saying in a serious tone, "I believe you've made your point, Doctor. Lord Fitzhugh, the charge will not be added to those already on record. Have you any further questions?"

"No, my lord."

"Proceed, Doctor."

The Doctor noticed that Jason was also having difficulty keeping a straight face and gave him a stern look before continuing. "After the incident at Tri Global, my next conscious memory was waking up in the Sanctuary…"

oOo

**Mission Day**** 48**

"Hey, I think he's waking up," a gruff male voice said.

"You've been saying that all afternoon," another male voice admonished. "It's too soon."

The Doctor tried to concentrate on the voices, wondering abstractly if this was what it was like to be a molecule in one of the four corners of the universe. He gave a low moan and the first voice spoke again, nearer this time. "See, I was right. He is waking up."

The Doctor managed to open his eyes, only to shut them again, the bright light in the room stabbing through his brain like a hot knife.

"Lou, turn the lights down," the second voice snapped. "Remember what the Doc said about light sensitivity."

The room went into partial darkness and the Doctor tried again, this time managing to open his eyes enough to focus on the faces above him. "Welcome back," the first voice that apparently belonged to Lou said happily. "You gave us quite a scare."

"I gave myself quite a scare," the Doctor replied softly. He moved a hand to his chest, feeling the bandages over where his right heart should be. If he'd regenerated, there would be no need for them and he closed his eyes in relief. "I take it I'm not dead."

Lou laughed. "No. 'Cause if this is the afterlife—"

"Shut up, Lou, and go get Doc Learner," Joe snapped. Lou gave him a sour look before doing as he was told. "Sorry about that," Joe said gently as he checked the readings on the monitors above the bed. "I'm sure it's a bit of a shock for you, ending up here and not…" He waved a hand to indicate the vast nothingness of space. "Troy'll explain it. He knows all that technical stuff. His name's Troy—Doc Leaner, I mean."

Joe gave a small smile that the Doctor thought was meant to be reassuring. The man attending him had obviously been injured in the fighting that was raging throughout the country. His face was badly scarred and he did not seem to have full use of one arm.

As he studied his unlikely attendant, the Doctor felt his mind clearing with each passing second. "Have you been looking after me, Joe?" he asked.

Joe looked up, a smile twisting his already twisted face. "Yeah. Me and Lou."

"Thank you. I'm the Doctor, by the way."

"Really," came a stern voice from across the room. "I thought I was the Doctor around here."

Joe looked up. "Our friend finally woke up, Troy," he announced happily.

"I can see that," the physician replied in a playful tone. "Joe, go see that Lou stays out of trouble while I talk to Doctor…?"

"Just Doctor," the Time Lord said calmly.

Joe patted the Doctor reassuringly on the shoulder. "I'll be back to look after you," he promised before scuttling off in search of his partner.

Dr. Troy Learner waited until the door closed before turning to his patient. He was younger than the Doctor expected, thin and dark, but with the look of a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"I'm sure you're bursting with questions," Troy said as he pulled up a chair.

"A few. Would I be correct in assuming that the signal from the dispersal disk was picked up by your transmat?" the Doctor asked blandly. "And would I also be correct in assuming that once I landed up here, someone, possibly yourself, preformed the surgery that saved my life?"

The physician's mouth dropped open. After a few stunned seconds, he nodded before finally finding his voice. "Yes. That's it in one. How in the world did you know all that?"

"My dear Dr. Learner," the Time Lord replied, "this isn't the only planet in the cosmos with transmat technology."

"No, I suppose not," Troy heard himself saying. He gave the Doctor a curious look. "Why do I get the feeling I'm the one who should be getting answers from you?"

oOo


	11. Benefactor

**CHAPTER 11**

**BENEFACTOR**

"In the two days I spent recovering," the Doctor said, taking up his narrative again, "I learned that the Sanctuary was a secret haven for those individuals that the Triad believed their weapons were eliminating. At one point in time, this former space freighter crash-landed in a remote area of the planet. The lone occupant became known to the local villagers as the Benefactor. They believed him to be a member of a local religious order, but his true origins were unknown."

A remote farm appeared on the Matrix screen, and the Doctor moved the image closer to the farmhouse as he spoke. "This holo-projection is how the freighter appears to the outside world. The farmhouse is actually the freighter's upper portion. I never did learn the exact circumstances of how, but the lower levels were completely below ground. Over the years, the farm became known as 'The Sanctuary,' having been turned into a kind of volunteer country hospital, some of the locals helping with the sick and injured from the surrounding villages."

The image moved into the interior, showing several injured people receiving medical treatment. "I also learned that the Benefactor had shared his origins with a select few. In exchange for their silence, he shared the advanced medical technology available on his damaged ship."

The image moved closer still, then downward into the ship's interior and the Doctor's hospital room. "Apparently, when the dispersal disks went into use, the long forgotten transmat in the Sanctuary reactivated, acting as a retrieval station. By this time, many of those from the surrounding area had taken refuge within the Sanctuary's walls. They begged the Benefactor to shield the additional people suddenly being deposited on his doorstep. He agreed under the condition that anyone arriving in this manner would remain until the hostilities ended."

The image stopped, showing the Doctor preparing to leave. "I was told that I was the first person to ever break this condition."

oOo

**Mission Day**** 50**

The Benefactor tapped on the door before entering. He was a tall man and wore an all-concealing monk's robe, his face invisible within its hood. "Your recovery has been nothing short of remarkable, Doctor," he said as he entered the room.

"Perhaps I wasn't injured as badly as everyone believed," the Time Lord replied evasively.

"Perhaps. I also understand that you've asked to leave us."

"Yes. I appreciate everything that's been done for me, Benefactor," the Doctor said gratefully, "but I've left some people back in the city who rather desperately need my help."

The Benefactor inclined his head. "I understand your wish to return, Doctor," he said calmly. "But there _is_ the simple matter of secrecy."

"Yes, I'm aware of that," the Time Lord replied mildly.

"There are several thousand people within these walls already. Hundreds more to follow, I'm sure. If the secret were to get out…"

"Forgive me, but if the Triad—Tri Global—aren't stopped, you'll run out of room because you'll have hundreds of thousands. And then the fighting will just break out here. You've already got to keep some factions on different levels just to keep the peace now," the Doctor pointed out more harshly than he intended.

"You really believe it's as simple as that?" the Benefactor asked in an amazed tone.

"Yes. It's like fighting a giant snake. You have to cut off its head," the Doctor replied seriously. "And in the case of the Glyateven, the head is the Triad."

The Benefactor stepped back as though to look at him and the Doctor could not help but wonder at his expression. "The_ whole_ Triad, Doctor? It was my understanding that one of them was a friend of yours."

"Yes. Apparently _was _is the operative word," the Time Lord replied darkly. "He's the one who put the bullet through my chest."

The Benefactor held up a hand. "Forgive me. I had no idea," he said quickly. "I must confess, had found it curious that someone of your intelligence could be friends with any of the Triad. They are such…well, violent individuals."

"Yes. Well, that didn't used to be the case," the Time Lord replied sadly.

The robed man nodded. "Indeed. I've heard stories about the members of the Triad from the refugees that would—" He broke off when a pained look came to the Doctor's face. He waved a hand in the air. "But that's beside the point, isn't it? We've all left others behind at one point or another."

"It's not about the people I left behind, Benefactor, it's about saving this planet from a possible alien invasion."

"Alien invasion?" the Benefactor repeated. Seeing the serious look on the Time Lord's face, he said equally seriously. "You say that is if you've had personal experience."

"I have, as it happens. And so has my…um, _friend _in the Triad." The Doctor's expression darkened. "That concerns me more than what he did to me, to be honest."

"I don't understand."

"I can stop him, and he knows it. The fact that he actually tried to kill me only confirms my worst fears. If your transmat hadn't intercepted my signal, I'd be dead now." A haunted look came to the Doctor's face. "I never thought we'd be on opposite sides like this. It makes what I have to do that much harder."

"And what's that?"

"Stop him by any means necessary."

"I see." The Benefactor drew a deep breath. "And after you stop him, what then? I assume you're not from this planet, Doctor."

The Doctor hesitated. "No, I'm not. I'm a traveler," he replied evasively.

"Ah, travel…" came the wistful reply. "My days of travel are behind me, thank goodness."

"You don't want to leave?" came the surprised reply. "And here I thought you'd be asking me to take you home."

The Benefactor held up his hands. "Goodness, no. I was very content among these simple people before this madness started. Their petty squabbles are nothing compared to what I've seen on other worlds. Ironically, I came here to get away from all that."

"Difficult to do with an alien invasion force camped on one's doorstep," the Doctor pointed out sharply.

"Indeed. You're right, of course. I should do all I can to stop this insanity," the robed man replied firmly. "And if that means breaking my own rules than…so be it."

The Doctor smiled broadly. "I take it that means I can go?"

"If it means putting an end to all this, then yes," the Benefactor replied. "I'm sure someone will be able to arrange transportation to the city for you." He turned and started up the corridor. "Come, I believe Troy is in the clinic. Perhaps we can get you on your way today."

oOo

When the extract ended, the Doctor paused for questions. To his surprise, it came from Eustis. "Is this next section of great length, Doctor?" the Inquisitor asked.

"It is, my lord."

"Then we shall break for a short recess."

To Jason's relief, he was able to go into a side room without having to deal with his shackles again. Even though Time Lords were woefully ignorant when it came to the Alterran's powers, they knew exactly how far the barrier generator's influence on him extended.

The Doctor could see the Prince was bursting to talk to him and was relieved that he waited until they were alone before doing so.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to stay quiet during all that?" Jason practically demanded.

"I knew that bit with the Benefactor would surprise you," the Time Lord said.

"Surprise? I'd've thought you, of all people, would have a better word to describe how I feel after that revelation," the Alterran said as he dropped into a chair.

"Well, you were hardly dropping to the floor in paroxysms of astonishment, were you?" the Doctor replied blandly, bringing an amused smile to the Prince's face.

"Be that as it may," Jason said, unable to keep his amusement from coming through in his voice. "I still wasn't ready for that. Despite the fact you warned me there was more to it."

The Time Lord smiled knowingly. "Yes, as did you," he reminded. "It seems we both had our share of surprises."

"Yes…" the Prince replied mildly. He noticed an amused look coming to his friend's face and scowled. "Something tells me that's not the only surprise you have in store for me."

The Doctor grinned. "Jason, if I might use the vernacular you're so fond of, you ain't seen nothin' yet."


	12. Second Raid

**CHAPTER 12**

**SECOND RAID**

After the recess, the Doctor described the events that followed his release from the Sanctuary. His return trip to the city involved a lengthy drive along back roads and semi-destroyed streets that eventually ended at the playground in Founder's Park. At some point between his arrival on the planet and his return to the park, the TARDIS had vanished, much to his annoyance.

oOo

**Mission Day**** 50** - continued

The Doctor returned to the tunnel used by Telvec's group and was delighted to learn that the entire raiding party that had been captured with him had been rescued those who remained outside. He found himself greeted with both shock and suspicion. Before he could assure the group's leader that he was not a spy; and Philip that he had not risen from the dead, someone asked him, to his astonishment, if he had been to the Sanctuary, which prompted an explosion of rumors that had sprung up surrounding the facility.

Telvec had been in the middle of laying out the plans for a second raid on Tri Global's headquarters and found this interruption an annoyance. When he finally regained everyone's attention, he continued reviewing the plans, having been able to coordinate his efforts with several other groups. This time everything was meticulously planned, including enlisting the help of an inside person.

The plan called for a diversion in another part of the city, the idea being to draw as many of Tri Global's forces away from the headquarters as possible. Unlike the original debacle, this plan worked perfectly. The inside man disabled the alarms and was waiting when the group arrived.

The purpose of the mission, according to Telvec, was to take control of the building and remove the Triad from power. He had no way of knowing that this had already been done for him.

o

Telvec and his followers burst into the penthouse office and stopped short. Leaders ONE and TWO were sprawled on the floor, dead, each with a large hole burned into his chest. Jason was in a pool of blood on the floor between them, a knife protruding from his side. The only sound in the room was the Alterran's labored breathing.

"What the hell happened in here?" Telvec gasped, looking around in amazement.

"I think someone beat us to it," someone replied.

The Doctor ignored them, making straight for the gravely injured Alterran, who gave him a shocked look when he knelt down beside him. He assumed this was because he was supposed to be dead and gave it no other thought.

"They killed each other," Jason informed painfully. "And I think they've killed me, too."

"This isn't the time for melodramatics," the Doctor replied tersely. "It's bad, but I don't think any major organs are involved. So long as that knife stays put you're in no danger of bleeding to death." Looking up, he ordered, "Telvec send for a medic."

"What for?" Telvec snarled.

"_What for?_ You've an injured man in need medical attention, _that's_ what for!" the Doctor snapped angrily.

"I'm not wasting what little medical supplies I have on the likes of him!"

"If you want to learn the Triad's plans, Telvec, you'd best keep him alive."

Telvec snorted, crossing to the main computer terminal. "What do I need him for? I can learn everything I need from this thing. Supply routes, storage facilities, trading partners..." The smug expression on his face faded as he tried unsuccessfully to bring up any information. "If I can just …bring up…the files…" He frowned, cursing under his breath. "What's wrong with this thing?"

"The memory core's been wiped," Jason informed quietly.

The Doctor gave him a stunned look. "Wiped? By whom?"

"I don't know."

"You don't believe him, do you?" Telvec said angrily. "He's one of them."

Jason gave a small smile of irony. "Am I?" he muttered softly.

"You conniving alien bastard," Telvec snarled. He yanked the knife from the Alterran's side, pulling a cry of pain from him at the same time. Before he could strike a fatal blow, the Doctor grabbed his arm. "Give me that!" he snapped, wrestling the blade from his hand and savagely clubbing the astonished man to the floor at the same time. "Is _this_ your glorious neworder?" he demanded angrily, throwing the knife across the room.

Jason moaned in pain, a hand going to the gash in his side. The knife had been acting as a plug, keeping the bleeding in check. With the plug gone, he was now bleeding profusely. He cried out in pain, grabbing the Doctor with his free hand as the Time Lord pressed his hands on the wound to try and stop the flow of blood.

"Get me that medic!" the Doctor cried. To his horror, air bubbles started to percolate between his fingers and he realized that when Telvec pulled the knife free he had also nicked a lung. If help didn't arrive soon, the Alterran would either bleed to death or drown in his own blood.

Having reached the same conclusion, Jason moved his hand from his wound, pulling a disk from his pocket. "It's too late," he said quietly.

The Doctor saw a dispersal disk between his fingers. "No!"

As Jason had said, it was too late. The disk had already activated and together they faded from the room.


	13. End Of The Triad

**CHAPTER 13**

**END OF THE TRIAD**

"Jason, you don't know what you're—!"

The Doctor was not where he expected to be and looked around in blank astonishment. He had assumed he would end up at the Sanctuary. Instead, he was in the transmat station on the flight deck of a fully operational spaceship. Beside him, Jason let out a low moan, the disk dropping from his fingers and clattering to the floor. His breathing had turned into a low whiz and the Doctor feared his lung was close to collapsing, if it hadn't already.

"Recall signal," Jason informed painfully.

"Recall?" Suddenly the Doctor understood. "This is the _ARGO_!"

"Yes." As firmly he could manage, the Prince said, "Computer, activate sickbay."

**"Activating."**

The wall to the Doctor's right parted, revealing the ship's sickbay beyond. Needing no further prompting, the Time Lord lifted the gravely injured Alterran from the floor and carried him into the room, placing him gently on an examining table.

**"Please step away from the patient,"** the computer requested.

"Déjà vu," Jason said weakly as the Doctor took a half step back. "Now I'm the one…who's going to…bleed to death."

"Do you think so little of your computer?" the Doctor asked, adding pointedly, "Or of me?" The reply was not what he expected.

"Computer, command function…designation—The Doctor."

**"Acknowledged,"** the computer replied. **"Initiating diagnostic scan."**

Jason gave the Doctor an unfocused look. Before he could say anything more, his eyes rolled back into his head and he lost consciousness. The same instant, the table retracted into the computer and the scan of his body began. Minutes passed like hours as the systems hummed and buzzed.

The Doctor nearly jumped out of his skin when an alarm suddenly sounded. Then another, and another… He dashed from one terminal to another, trying unsuccessfully to get into the cabinet, but the scan had locked out all the instruments. Finally, he thumped his fist on the Med-computer in frustration and the alarms stopped as abruptly as they started.

The Doctor blinked, looking at the computer in bewilderment. "Computer," he said at last, "what's your patient's status?"

**"All physical activity has ceased,"** the computer replied blandly.

The Doctor felt both his hearts miss a beat. "You mean he's dead?"

**"All physical activity has ceased,"** the computer repeated.

The Doctor gave the machine an annoyed look and muttered a few uncomplimentary phrases. He cleaned the blood from his hands and found himself wishing he had arrived a few minutes earlier. Perhaps then…

Shaking off these thoughts, he set about the painful process of preparing the Alterran's body for transport back to Tel-Shye. Whatever his old friend may have turned in to, the Doctor felt his family deserved the have him back properly. With the assistance of the computer, he was able to clean the blood from Jason's body and change he clothes from those of the Triad to his more traditional, casual style. Finally, he moved him from the table in the sickbay to a transport capsule.

The Doctor stood looking down at the inert form for several minutes, dozens of questions flying through his head. The predominant one being _why?_ Why had his former companion and, apparently, former friend chosen to abandon his values, ideals, and—yes, his morals? Why had he turned on everything he had once held dear? _Why?_

"_O proud death_," the Doctor quoted. _"What feast is toward in thine eternal cell? That thou so many Princes at a shot. So bloodily hast struck?"_ He drew a deep breath. "Oh, Jason. What happened to you? How could you've come to _this?_" he said in a quiet sad voice. Regrettably, he knew he would never learn the answers to these questions and finally closed and sealed the capsule.

With this difficult and heartbreaking job out of the way, the Time Lord crossed to the command chair and practically fell into it, feeling completely exhausted. After a few minutes, he asked, "Computer, is it possible to contact Tri Global headquarters?"

**"Affirmative."**

"Then do so."

A moment later, he saw the bewildered face of Telvec on the main screen. "I see you've managed to hold your command position," the Doctor remarked, causing the man to jump.

Telvec looked at the face on the screen in shock and then leaned in close. He had only seen a video link on science fiction programs on television. _Would the real thing be as simple to use?_ he wondered and cleared his throat nervously. "Er, hello, Doctor. Back from the dead again, I see. Where are you?"

"I'm aboard the _ARGO_," the Time Lord replied unhelpfully.

Telvec scowled. "The…_ARGO?_"

"Yes, it's Jason's shuttlecraft. Never mind that," the Doctor said dismissively, "I've called to tell you that Jason didn't make it."

This news caused the room to erupt into a mass of chatter. "Quiet!" the leader thundered. "Doctor, are you telling me that that friend of yours is dead?"

"Yes, Telvec, that is exactly what I am telling you. There is no more Triad."

Telvec sat down before the screen; growing more comfortable with the technology the longer he used it. "Look, Doctor, I know he was your friend once, but I won't pretend to being sad that he's dead."

The Doctor nodded, understanding the man's feelings.

"When're you coming back?" Telvec then asked.

"Back? What do you need me for?" the Time Lord wanted to know.

"We've located the local warehouse. Victory's in hand."

The Doctor sighed heavily. "You've a long way to go before you can declare victory, Telvec. The price that's been paid already is too high. I can see nothing worth celebrating in that."

"You really are a Sage, Doctor," Telvec stated admiringly.

"Thank you, Telvec. But right now, I don't feel very wise. Just very old." With that, he cut the transmission. The Doctor sat staring into space for several minutes, lost in thought. Finally, he looked up at the blank screen in front of him. "Computer, how do I access the ship's logs?" He expected to be refused entry and was not disappointed.

**"Command designation required."**

The Doctor was about to start hacking into the system when Jason's last words returned to mind. "Command designation—The Doctor," he said firmly.

**"Authorization accepted,"** the computer replied.

A monitor in the console came to life, presenting the Doctor with a menu of options. He pulled up the listing of all the entries and saw he had hundreds from which to choose. "How many separate logs are there?" he asked.

**"Four."**

"Isolate just the personal log entries after arrival on Eldeberon."

The screen flashed, eliminating the majority of the entries. It still left more than a hundred to go through.

"It'll take days to sort through that lot," the Doctor muttered. "Unless…" He had a flash of inspiration. Jason was a brilliant programmer and would've gone out of his way to make the information in his ship's computer easily accessible. There had to be a way of sorting through everything quickly. "Computer, is it possible to search through the log for specific entries?"

**"Affirmative. Please indicate search parameters."**

Another menu flashed up and the Doctor gave a satisfied grunt when he saw the numerous options available. "Multiple search. Keywords: Glyateven, Triad, and the Doctor."

**"Acknowledged. Searching."**

The screen dimmed and the Doctor heaved a heavy sigh. He leaned forward and laid his head in his arms, closing his eyes. He intended to rest until the computer completed its search. His exhausted and still recuperating body had other ideas and he fell fast asleep.

oOo


	14. The Fleet

**CHAPTER 14**

**THE FLEET**

Fitzhugh was on his feet before the extract ended. "Doctor, is it your intention to present all the accused's log entries?" he asked wearily. "If so, I'd like to remind you that the majority have already been entered into evidence."

"The prosecutor has a valid point, Doctor," Eustis agreed.

"My lord, I wouldn't dream of wasting this court's time reviewing evidence that's already been visually entered into the record," the Doctor replied reasonably. With a broad smile, he added, "Anyway, I never got the chance to view the logs. Something else got in the way."

With a quick look at his notes, he pulled up the next extract and pushed the button to begin.

oOo

**Mission Day 51**

The panel on which the Doctor was leaning started beeping softly for attention. Eventually he opened his eyes and sat up, cursing himself when he realized he had dozed off. In front of him, the monitor displayed the results of his search, ready and waiting for his attention.

"Computer, how long have I been asleep?" he asked.

**"Five hours, twenty-three minutes."**

"What! Why didn't you wake me?"

**"No request was—"**

"Alright, shut up" the Doctor said in annoyance as he got to his feet. "I know, I didn't ask you to. Stupid computer." He stretched his arms into the air, pulling the kinks from his body. "That's a very long time to stay in one position." He realized the beeping from the console had not stopped and looked at it in annoyance. "What is that noise?"

Silence.

The Doctor gave an annoyed sighed. _Stupid Doctor, you told it to shut up_. "Computer, what is that noise?"

**"Long range sensor warning. Three Glyateven warships have entered this stellar system."**

"What? Display sensor track" The Doctor returned to the command chair at the main view screen. The computer brought up a visual reference of the Eldeberon solar system showing three small dots on a direct course for the planet itself. He scowled when he noticed how close they were to the planet and wondered how long the sensor warning had been sounding before it finally woke him.

**"Incoming transmission,"** the computer announced.

"From whom?"

**"Glyateven Fleet Commander Fontraal."**

"Not much of a fleet," the Doctor observed unkindly.

**"Transmission acknowledged."**

The Doctor did not like the sound of that at all. Then he wondered if the Glyateven forces currently on Eldeberon were simply the advanced guard. Had his fears been correct? Had Jason been helping to lay the groundwork for a full-fledged invasion? If so, were the incoming ships the next wave?

"Where did the acknowledgment originate?" he asked.

**"Acknowledgment initiated through this unit's automatic response sequence."**

This only seemed to confirm the Doctor's suspicions and his eyes flashing over the instruments before him. He was about to begin interrogating the computer further when the main screen changed again.

**"Automatic response commencing."**

The Doctor sat back in amazement as the Prince suddenly appeared on screen. He was dressed in full Ambassadorial regalia, and had included his elaborate Alterran collar of rank just to add to the effect. "Glyateven Command," he began in an official tone. "I am Ambassador Krystovan. You're receiving this prerecorded message because I haven't the time to sit and wait for incompetents to grace me with their presence. All escaped prisoners have been accounted for and retrieval tags implanted, including those who died upon arrival. The resonance signature codes are being transmitted with this recording." Jason's voice dropped and became slightly threatening as he said, "Your inability to arrive in a timely manner and your government's disregard of this system's restricted status will be highlighted in my report. Krystovan out."

The screen went blank and the Doctor sat staring in astonishment. "It was all one big elaborate deception, wasn't it?" he said, a hint of anger creeping into his voice. He got to his feet, crossing to the transport capsule that held the Prince's inert form. "Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded angrily. "You thickheaded Alterran! Why didn't you tell me?"

**"Removal commencing,"** the computer announced.

"Shut up!" the Time Lord snarled.

A few minutes later, Telvec's face appeared on the screen. "Doctor?" he called desperately. "Doctor, can you hear me?" He looked at the controls in front of him and then the man beside him. "Damn it, is this thing working?"

The Doctor touched a button. "Yes, I hear you Telvec. What's the panic?"

"Something's gone wrong!" the leader replied. "Tri Global—the Triad—whatever you call it. Their people are pulling out all over the country. They know what we've done and they're regrouping for an attack!"

"Telvec, calm down," the Doctor replied. "They're not regrouping. They're being removed from the planet. You won't have to worry about—" He broke off as the transmission abruptly cut out and an unpleasant looking Glyateven warrior appeared on screen. "I am Fleet Commander Fontraal. Identify yourself."

"Computer, did he just break into my transmission?"

**"Affirmative."**

"Cheek!" the Time Lord snorted. He pressed the transmit button. "Yes, hello, Fleet Commander. I'm the Doctor. Can I help you?" he asked politely.

"What do you know of our mission here?" the Commander demanded.

The Doctor blinked. _Well, nothing like coming to the point_. "Well…only what I saw in Ambassador Krystovan's message," he said truthfully.

"Where is the Ambassador?"

"Ah. He's dead, I'm afraid."

Fontraal frowned. "You're certain of this?" he asked suspiciously.

The Doctor threw a quick glance back in the direction of the transport capsule. "Yes, I'm quite certain. I'm in the process of preparing his body for transport back to his people."

"You're not of this world?" the Glyateven asked, his suspicious tone unchanged.

The Doctor wanted to kick himself. "No. I'm a just traveler."

"Then you will travel with us," Fontraal replied, motioning to one of his officers. "No one is to know of this…error."

The flight deck started to hum and the Doctor looked around in bewilderment. Then he realized that Fontraal was attempting to have him transported from the ship. For reasons he did not know at the time, the Glyateven could not get an exact lock on his position and the incoming power sent him staggering. He grabbed at the command chair to keep from falling. He could feel his cells being pulled apart and sank to his knees as the power increased.

"Computer, help me," he gasped out painfully before dropping to the floor. Just as he was losing consciousness, it flashed through his mind that his request had been too vague for Jason's literal-minded computer to understand.

Luckily, in this instance, the Doctor was wrong.

**"Activating defense mode. Defense shields raised. Jamming signal activated,"** the computer announced blandly.

Fontraal's smug expression faded as contact was lost. He turned to the officer beside him. "What happened?" he demanded.

"We lost contact."

"Well, reestablish it!"

"I can't, sir," came the helpless reply. "The signal was being bounced off of the planet's communication satellites. We lost contact before we could get a fix on the transmission source."

Fontraal was less than thrilled to hear this. "What am I to tell central command when this Doctor appears—"

"He won't, sir," the officer replied. "Without a proper transport lock, his body would've been scrambled beyond recognition. I doubt anyone will ever find him."

oOo


	15. Hard To Kill

**CHAPTER 15**

**HARD TO KILL**

As the Doctor made to begin the next extract, he glanced up. None of these events had been covered in his original testimony. He noticed the prosecutor and Inquisitor were waiting expectantly for the next section to begin, having gotten wrapped up with the story.

How had the Doctor gotten out of this? What happened next?

They were about to find out.

oOo

**Mission Day ****53**

When the Doctor returned to his senses, he immediately wished he hadn't. He felt as though his insides had been put through a blender. He groaned and opened his eyes, finding himself staring at the ceiling in the sickbay.

"That was a singularly unpleasant experience," he muttered as he sat up, discovering at the same time that he was on an examination couch. He put a hand to his head to stop it spinning, wondering abstractly why the room would not stop along with it.

"Computer," he said at last, "how long have I been unconscious?"

**"Thirty-nine hours, forty-two minutes."**

"What!" he cried out, and then wished he hadn't done that either. "How did I get from the flight deck to the sickbay?" he asked in a subdued voice.

The computer gave a concise report of events. After the Doctor's request for help, defense shields activated, protecting the Time Lord from further attack. He was transported into the sickbay and placed in stasis while repairs to his damaged body were carried out. When this was completed, the stasis field shut down, allowing him to awaken on his own.

The Doctor sat back in amazement. "All that by simply asking for help," he observed, clearly impressed. He looked over at the transport capsule, giving a small salute. "If nothing else, Jason, you were a programmer extraordinaire." He made to rise, discovering at the same time that he was wearing only a sheet.

"Um, computer, where are my clothes?"

A light came on across the room, illuminating his clothes hanging against the wall. They appeared to have been cleaned, pressed and repaired of all damage.

The Doctor got shakily to his feet, wrapping himself in the sheet. He waited a moment to make certain he was steady enough to cross the room before finally attempting it.

**"Do you desire nourishment?"** asked the computer, and a food synthesizer lit up not far from his clothes.

"Well, such service," the Doctor remarked. He got dressed slowly, allowing his head to clear more fully. He then dialed up a light breakfast, carrying it to the flight deck where he sat down and started to drink his tea. Finally feeling like his old self again, he looked up at the map of the Eldeberon system that was still on the main view screen. _After nearly forty hours, the fleet would be long gone_. "What's the status of the fleet?" he asked casually.

The reply was not what he expected. **"The Glyateven command ship exploded forty-eight minutes after leaving orbit,**" the computer said blandly. **"Subsequent explosions destroyed the accompanying ships."**

The Doctor almost choked on his tea. "What? All the ships were destroyed?"

**"Affirmative."**

"Well, Fontraal, looks as though you got your wish. Now even you can't tell of this error," the Doctor muttered darkly. As he finished his breakfast, he wondered what the implications of all this might mean. Before he could decide on any course of action, the main systems in the sickbay came to life. The rising hum gained the Doctor's attention and he turned in time to see the transport capsule containing Jason's body glowing. A moment later, the Alterran was back on the examination table, which immediately retracted into the scanning cabinet.

"Computer, what's going on?"

**"Revival program initiated,"** the computer replied. The Doctor watched in amazement as the system monitors came to life, the inside of the Med-cabinet glowing dully in response. **"Repair program in progress."**

"Repair program? Computer, explain. What is happening?"

**"Patient is being revived from stasis,"** came the startling reply. **"Repairs of physical injuries in progress. Revival halted until blood volume returned to safe levels."**

The Doctor found himself unable to take it all in. He crossed to the Med-cabinet and looked in at the pale, motionless occupant. "Computer, your patient _died_ almost two days ago."

**"Negative. Patient placed in stasis when blood volume dropped below critical level. Stasis maintained until revival mode activated."**

The Doctor cursed the logic of computers and Jason's genius at programming them. "What activated the revival mode?" he asked.

**"Revival mode activated by preprogrammed system trigger."**

"In other words, you don't know."

**"Revival mode activated by preprogrammed system trigger,"** the computer repeated.

"Oh, shut up!" the Doctor snapped impatiently. He could see Jason's color was already returning to normal. "So, you're not dead after all," he observed darkly. "But you went to an awful lot of trouble to make sure everyone, including me, thought you were. Was it just to outwit the Glyateven? Or was it to leave _you_ as the last of the Triad in sole control of Tri Global and the power that goes with it? A deception within a deception." The Doctor drew a deep breath, adding admiringly, "Programmer extraordinaire."

Within half an hour, the revival program was completed and Jason was opening his eyes. He struggled to focus on his surroundings. _I'm in a box. Why am I in a box?_ Then his mind cleared enough for him to realize he was inside the recovery cabinet in his own sickbay, the green light within glowing slightly brighter as he came more fully awake.

"Jason, can you hear me?"

The Prince jumped, startled by the unexpected voice. He tried to focus his muddled brain without success.

"Jason, it's the Doctor. Can you hear me?"

"Yes," Jason said weakly. "Where…?"

"You're onboard the _ARGO_," the Doctor replied cautiously. "You brought us here. Do you remember?"

"Not…really…" the Alterran replied faintly. "Computer, what's my—?"

"Cancel," the Doctor cut in. "This is no time to play Healer, Jason. You're the patient now. You let me worry about your status." He prayed the Alterran was too weak and confused to refuse or fight him, which he was.

Closing his eyes, Jason nodded. Even though he could not see the Doctor properly, he knew that the Doctor could see him. He also knew what the Time Lord wasn't telling him. Within the recovery cabinet, located directly above his head was a monitor that displayed his status as well as how much time had passed since his arrival on the _ARGO_. He drew a deep breath and tried to get hold of his thoughts. This was nearly impossible to do. "Did I pass out?" he asked finally.

"Yes. Just after we arrived," the Time Lord replied truthfully, choosing not to tell him that this had been two days ago.

"I'm so…tired…"

"Not surprising. You lost an awful lot of blood," the Doctor informed quietly.

The Prince nodded and struggled to get his head together. "Is it safe now?" he asked finally.

The Doctor was uncertain how to take this question. He knew from his own experience that revival from stasis left one very disoriented, and Jason had been under for nearly fifty straight hours. "Safe? Safe with me, you mean?" he asked guardedly.

After a long pause, Jason replied shakily, "I don't know what I mean. I can't…think…" He put a hand to his injured side. "And I feel awful," he muttered darkly.

"Well, you were stabbed," the Doctor observed. It was all too apparent that the Prince was far too weak and confused to balk at anything he told him. In a gentle tone, he said, "Get some sleep and let the computer do its job. We'll talk when you're stronger."

"Yes…" Jason said faintly. He was asleep almost immediately.

The Doctor watched the peacefully sleeping figure for several minutes. He looked so vulnerable and defenseless, and yet, once he got his strength back…

"Computer, is it possible to keep your patient unconscious while his system is being repaired?"

**"Affirmative."**

"Good. Do it."

**"Unable to comply."**

The Doctor cursed under his breath. "Why?"

**"There is no medical benefit to such an order."**

The Doctor repeated the curse. "Your patient was conscious a moment ago, correct?"

**"Affirmative."**

"And did this strengthen or weaken him?"

The computer analyzed the data a moment. **"The patient's condition weakened during conscious activity."**

The Time Lord gave a satisfied snort. "Given this data, isn't it logical to conclude that the patient will recover more quickly if he is kept unconscious while repairs are underway?"

**"Affirmative. Program amended."**

The Doctor smiled smugly, pleased to have finally gotten one better on the computer. "How much time will it take for all repairs to be completed?"

**"Total time for repairs forty-six hours, seventeen minutes."**

"Two more days," the Doctor said in surprise. "He really is in a bad way."

oOo

The image suddenly froze and Fitzhugh was on his feet.

"I wondered when he'd wake up," the Doctor muttered quietly.

"Doctor, why did you order the computer to keep the accused unconscious during his recovery?" the prosecutor wanted to know.

"To keep him…inactive," the Doctor replied evasively.

"Inactive," Fitzhugh repeated. "Isn't it a fact that you ordered the computer to keep the accused unconscious to prevent him from attacking you a second time?"

"That was hardly likely to happen, considering he'd just revived from nearly fifty continuous hours in stasis."

"And after he awoke again?" the prosecutor asked pointedly. "Wasn't it simply a way of restraining the accused?"

The Doctor sighed heavily, admitting, "Alright, yes, I did it to restrain him. I didn't want him waking up before I was ready for him."

The prosecutor smiled smugly. "And how did you get ready for him?"

"I didn't. It never came to that. Something else came up before I could work that out."

oOo


	16. Incoming Messages

**CHAPTER 16**

**INCOMING MESSAGES**

**Mission Day ****53** - continued

The Doctor returned to the flight deck, seeing the results of his search of Jason's log still awaiting his attention. "I'm not going to need you any longer," he muttered, dropping into a chair and deleting the search. He sat thoughtfully a moment. "Computer, when was Jason's last personal log entry recorded?" he asked.

**"Last log entry, local date 20.65.5,"** came the unhelpful reply.

"How long was that before my arrival?"

**"Thirty-seven hours, six minutes."**

The Doctor was taken aback by this. Jason was usually meticulous in his record keeping. _What could have kept him away?_ he wondered. "What was your last order prior to my arrival?" he then asked.

**"Record all message transmissions between locations designated Tri Global and Sanctuary," the computer replied startlingly.**

_One surprise after another_, the Doctor thought. "Have there been any transmissions?"

**"Affirmative."**

"How many?"

**"Seven."**

"Play them back in chronological order."

**"Accessing."**

The main screen flashed up a split-screen image. On the one side were the top two members of the Triad, on the other, the robed figure of the Benefactor.

**"Transmission one,"** the computer announced.

"_What's the Doctor's progress?" ONE asked._

"_He's recovering faster than expected. And he's asking a lot of questions," the Benefactor said worriedly "I'm sure he knows more than he's telling. I should've killed him the minute he arrived."_

"_When will he be well enough to leave?" ONE asked._

"_Leave?" The Benefactor sat back in his chair and started fiddling with a small remote control. "No one leaves the Sanctuary and lives to tell about it."_

"_We'd like you to make an exception in the case of this…__**friend**__ of THREE's," ONE said coldly. He exchanged a knowing look with TWO, who started to laugh._

"_As you wish. Out."_

**"Transmission two,"** said the computer.

"_The Doctor left the Sanctuary and should be arriving in the city within the next few hours," the Benefactor informed._

"_Excellent," Leader ONE replied. "THREE is due back at our headquarters tonight."_

"_Are you going to confront him?"_

"_We're going to kill him!" TWO announced happily. "Lying, conniving, alien trash!"_

"_Indeed. You'll be amused to learn the Doctor plans to destroy the Triad upon his return," the Benefactor said blandly._

_TWO laughed raucously at this._

"_Our spies tell us another raid on our headquarters is being planned," ONE informed. "If we can get him to delay this until the Doctor arrives…"_

"_We can kill two birds with one stone," TWO snickered. "Out"_

**"Transmission three. Text only,"** said the computer.

The message was addressed to Leader ONE.

_Emergency situation has arisen._

_Urgent I speak with you and you alone._

–_Benefactor_

**"Transmission four,"** said the computer.

Having apparently received the previous message, Leader ONE appeared on the Triad side of the screen.

"_What's so important that only I must hear?" ONE asked in a bored tone._

"_Leader TWO is planning to take over the primary position in the Triad," the Benefactor said in a worried voice._

_ONE was stunned, having rightly assumed that TWO lacked the brainpower to plan such a thing. "How do you know this?" he demanded._

"_You're not the only one with spies," came the evasive reply._

_A scowl came to the Leader's face. "Did your spy tell you when this will happen?"_

_The robed man nodded. "When he eliminates your adviser. Two birds with one stone, remember?"_

_ONE remained thoughtful a moment. "You'll be rewarded for your loyalty, alien. Out."_

**"Transmission five. Text only,"** said the computer.

As with the first, an urgent message from the Benefactor appeared, only this one was addressed to Leader TWO.

_Emergency situation for your attention only._

_Urgent that I speak with you alone._

–_Benefactor_

**"Transmission six,"** said the computer.

This time it was Leader TWO who appeared alone on the Triad side.

"_What do you want, alien?" TWO asked without preamble._

"_Your life is in danger," the Benefactor replied. "Leader ONE is planning to replace you in the secondary position."_

"_Ha! He hasn't the guts!" TWO snorted derisively._

"_Don't be too sure. He's already picked the time and place."_

_TWO suddenly looked worried. "When?"_

"_When you eliminate your adviser. He believes you'll be too distracted then."_

_A growl rose in the Leader's throat. "I'll shoot them both," he __said,__ holding up his laser pistol._

_The Benefactor cleared his throat. "You've already tried that once," he reminded. "Your adviser carries a device that repels laser weapons."_

"_Yes. That's true," TWO pouted._

"_But I doubt it'll be as effective against hand weapons."_

_TWO looked dumbly at the screen before he understood what the Benefactor meant. Then he started to laugh. "Yes!" he snickered, motioning with his hand. "I'll stick him like the pig that he is!"_

"_I knew you'd be pleased," the Benefactor purred. "Out."_

**"Transmission seven,"** the computer said.

Now only the Benefactor appeared on screen, the Triad side apparently off. The robed man was entering information into a computer terminal. Then a high-pitched squeal came through the sound system and the Triad side turned on, showing the room empty. There was a computer terminal on screen that seemed to turn on by itself and started running a program on its own. The Doctor realized that the Benefactor was controlling it remotely. After several minutes, the computer shut down and the transmission ended.

**"End entries,"** the computer announced.

"Well, now we know how the memory was wiped," the Doctor observed thoughtfully, sitting back in his seat. "Computer, do you know the location of the Sanctuary?"

**"Affirmative."**

The Doctor was beginning to wonder what the computer didn't know. "Do you have the transmat coordinates?"

**"Please specify location."**

"Clarify."

**"There are two transmat stations located at destination Sanctuary,"** the computer informed startlingly. At the same time, a map of the freighter now known as the Sanctuary appeared on the main screen.

The Time Lord gave a low whistle. The ship was enormous. Two red dots blinked on different levels indicating the transmat locations. "Which is the least used?" he asked. The dot on the upper level went out. "Yes, I thought it might be that one." He leaned closer to the screen, studying the map. The dot was flashing in what looked like the ship's hold.

He got to his feet, going back into the sickbay to make one last check on Jason before crossing to the transmat station and ordering the computer to transport him to the Sanctuary.

oOo

"Doctor, may one ask the reason you chose to go to the Sanctuary at that specific point in time?" Fitzhugh asked mildly.

"Curiosity," the Doctor replied bluntly.

"Curiosity? Nothing more…tangible?"

"No. I didn't know what I was looking for at the time," the Doctor admitted. "All I knew was the Benefactor was hiding something and I wanted to know what it was."

"Surely that was obvious from the messages," the prosecutor replied. "He was working to eliminate the Triad. He set the top two against one another and gave them the means to eliminate the third, this being the accused."

"Your point?"

"My point is that the accused already suspected a connection. Otherwise he would not have ordered his computer to intercept the transmissions."

"Ah. I concede the point," the Doctor said happily.

This surprised even the Inquisitor. "So noted. Anything else, Lord Fitzhugh?"

Fitzhugh was so totally thrown by this that he completely lost his train of thought. "Uh, no, my lord," he stammered out.

"Then I suggest we recess for the meal break." Eustis tapped the gavel and the court went into recess.

* * *

"Just how many more surprises are there?" the dazzled Jason asked as the door to the side room was closed.

The Doctor grinned. "That would be telling."

"Very funny," the Alterran said as he dropped into a chair. "I'm not sure I can take much more of this." He gave a small sigh and looked up. "Although it is nice to know that I'm worthy of Shakespeare on my demise."

The Time Lord's eyes lit up. "So you finally read _Hamlet_, did you?"

"No. Shadra dragged me kicking and screaming to a performance," the Prince admitted. The thought of his wife brought a bittersweet smile to his face.

The Doctor could picture the scene so vividly that he laughed.

"I'm not sure I like the parallel." Jason's face darkened and he put a hand to his head. "And I'm not sure about this strategy, either."

"That's not very encouraging, coming from a strategist," the Doctor remarked aridly.

"It's just…things seem even more out of control than they were before."

The Time Lord took a seat and studied the Prince's worried expression a moment. "We haven't even gotten through the first day yet," he said mildly.

Jason gave the Time Lord a piercing look. It seemed to him that his friend was still closing him out. "You _are_ on my side, aren't you, Doctor?"

The Doctor laughed again, this time at his friend's serious tone. "At least let me get through my testimony before you fire me."

"It's the rest of your testimony that's worrying me. I know how this tragedy ends," the Prince replied darkly, sliding further into his chair.


	17. Return To The Sanctuary

**CHAPTER 17**

**RETURN TO THE SANCTUARY**

After the recess, the Doctor started the next extract. The image of a darkened storeroom appeared on the Matrix screen. "This is the secondary transmat station in the Sanctuary," he informed. "It was here that I arrived after leaving the _ARGO_."

oOo

**Mission Day ****53** - continued

The Doctor materialized on a large platform in an enormous room in the freighter's hold area. He had assumed it would be empty, since the ship had been stranded for many years. To his surprise, there were crates and boxes stacked on hover-pads near the transmat platform. He was about to investigate them when he heard voices further within the room. His curiosity now fully aroused, he moved closer to investigate these sounds instead.

A group of men were moving what was left of a stack of boxes onto a hover-pad. The device sank slightly with each addition, buzzing loudly in protest as its systems adjusted to compensate before rising off the ground again. The Doctor watched this operation in bewilderment.

A deep voice suddenly called out, "You there! How'd you get down here?"

The Doctor spun around, seeing two men pointing at him. He did not wait for introductions. He turned on his heel and ran, angry shouts rising in volume behind him. He found one of the exits and dashed into the corridor beyond, looking up and down the passageway trying desperately to remember the map. "Which way? Which way?" Giving up, he chose at random, zigzagging his way through the ship, having no idea where he was going.

After several minutes of this, the Doctor found a ladder attached to a bulkhead, leading upwards and downwards. He chose to climb up to the next level. With luck, he would be able to throw off his pursuers.

The next level seemed to be storage bays as well. He moved as quietly as possible, hugging the wall and keeping a watchful eye out for the angry men chasing him. As he was moving along the wall, the Doctor's hand touched a door and it swung open. He jumped back, waiting to see if anyone emerged. When this did not happen, he peeked in and then stepped through the door.

"What on earth are you playing at?" he muttered as he took in his surroundings. He had entered what looked like a large control room. All of the systems in the Sanctuary's upper levels were off line or barely usable. Yet this room appeared fully operational. He crossed to one of the computer monitors, scowled down at the controls.

The door suddenly creaked behind him and the Doctor spun around to see the Benefactor standing in the doorway. Behind him were several heavily armed and angry looking men. "Doctor, I thought you'd be long gone by now," the robed man said in a slightly surprised tone.

"I had a few questions I wanted answering," the Time Lord replied coldly. "Such as, what is all this?"

"This is my little home from home," the Benefactor purred, holding out his arms to take in the room. He stepped further inside allowing the men behind him to enter.

"You're content to stay among your simple neighbors, are you?" the Time Lord reproved sharply.

"I never said I was out of touch with the rest of the universe. Only that I'd removed myself from it," the Benefactor pointed out.

"How long have you been working for the Triad?" the Doctor demanded.

The Benefactor seemed surprised by this question. "Someone's been telling tales out of school," he observed, wagging a finger in the air. "And I wasn't working for the Triad. They were working for me. They just didn't know it."

The Doctor frowned. "What did _you_ get out of it?"

"Information," the Benefactor replied. "You'd be surprised how much value some races place on simple information." He waved a hand in the air. "Far less stressful than hauling freight to all corners of creation."

The Doctor's mouth dropped open. "You're an information broker?" he gasped. _"Here?"_

"Why not?"

The Time Lord was stuck for an answer on that point. "And the Triad? What information could you possibly you get from them?"

The Benefactor chortled at this question. "Doctor, I didn't get information from them. The information _was _them, and it only cost me the price of a few transponder chips," he said startlingly. "The Glyateven home world was very generous when I gave them their exact location. Rather embarrassing, losing a shipload of prisoners like that."

The Doctor frowned. "If you know all that, you also know that the Glyateven removed their prisoners some time ago."

The Benefactor had sauntered over to his workstation. "Indeed. But, alas, the fighting rages on without them."

"I see. Well, you don't need me cluttering up the place any longer, then," the Doctor said quickly and started for the door. He stopped short when the men blocking his way raised their weapons.

"He saw us," the lead man hissed worriedly. "And the cargo."

The Benefactor waved him to silence. "Don't worry, Justin. The Doctor's not leaving just yet. We haven't had time to chat. A nice little information exchange."

The Doctor continued to frown at him. "What kind of information?"

"I'm sure we can think of something. Strange how you overlooked mentioning you're a Time Lord during your stay. You must know all kinds of interesting things."

The Doctor straightened, his only reply being to glare at the robed figure. He wondered how the Benefactor had learned this, but was not about to ask.

The Benefactor picked up what looked like a television remote control and started turning it over in his hands. "Not so chatty now, Doctor?" he taunted.

"Before you even ask, the answer is no. Aside from the fact that it's forbidden, I won't reveal future events just so you can profit from them," the Time Lord stated categorically.

"And here I thought we could be friends," the Benefactor said sulkily.

"Do you always threaten your friends at gunpoint?" the Doctor asked astringently.

The Benefactor chuckled at this. "You know, the late Ambassador was always such a generous partner. I hoped you might be also."

The Doctor was thunderstruck by this revelation, his mouth dropping open in shock. The Benefactor chuckled again at his reaction. "Oh dear, did I omit telling you that I knew him too?" he asked tauntingly.

"Yes, you did. Were you working together on this little plot to take over the world? Or were you just selling off the information he could glean for you?"

The robed man waved a hand in the air. "A little of both, actually. Not that it matters now," he said dismissively. "I'm in need of a new partner."

"And you want it to be me, do you?" the Doctor replied. "Did you conspire to have your last partner killed because he'd outlived his usefulness for you?"

"You ask a lot of questions, Doctor," the Benefactor observed.

"It's the only way to learn anything."

"I quite agree." The Benefactor casually pushed a button on the remote control in his hands. The same instant the Doctor felt a sharp pain and gave a small cry of alarm, a hand going to his chest.

"Are you ill, Doctor?" the Benefactor asked mildly.

Puzzled, the Doctor shook his head. "No. Just a twinge from an old injury."

"Oh yes. You had a serious injury when you arrived. Your heart, wasn't it? Are you sure it's completely healed?"

Another button was pressed and the Doctor cried out again, clutching his chest.

"Did I also mention that I trade in electronic devices? Useful little gadgets at keeping one's minions under control."

"So I'm to go from a partner to one of your minions, am I?" the Doctor gasped out painfully. "So much for friendship."

When the next button was pressed, the pain was excruciating, sending the Doctor to his knees. The Benefactor's voice hardened. "No one leaves the Sanctuary and lives to tell about it, Doctor. I've made certain of that!"


	18. Who Are You?

**CHAPTER 18**

"**WHO ARE YOU?"**

Before the Doctor could contemplate the implications of what had just happened, the Benefactor ordered, "Secure him in the interrogation room."

The incapacitated Time Lord was pulled from the floor and out the door. Before the last man followed, his superior ordered, "Once the Doctor's secured, get the last of the cargo transferred."

"Don't worry, sir. We'll make the deadline," the man said as he left the room. He hurried after the others, who were making their way down a series of corridors before reaching the interrogation room. As the last man to arrive, he stayed outside as the others dragged their prisoner through the door.

The first thing the Doctor noticed upon entering was a wall of heavy metal plate with thick leather restraints bolted to it. The far wall had a slab of metal attached to it that was probably supposed to serve as a bench. In the corner opposite the restraining wall was a computer console next to which was a large trunk, the contents of which he felt sure he would learn all too soon. It was all too apparent that not all the information the Benefactor was selling had been obtained from willing sources.

In the hall, the sentry smiled evilly as the Time Lord's shouts of protest came through the closed door. It was obvious he was being less than cooperative. The man was so intent on listening to the commotion within the room that he failed to notice the cloaked figure approaching and jumped when he suddenly loomed over him.

"Benefactor!" he gasped. "Sir, I didn't expect you this soon. I thought you'd be seeing to—"

The Benefactor cut him off with a wave of the hand, a clear indication that the man shut up and open the door, which he hurriedly did. The scene inside was one of bedlam. The group had stripped their prisoner of his clothes and were attempting to force him against the wall and into the restraints. The Doctor was indeed being less than cooperative.

The sentry cleared his throat loudly, gaining everyone's attention. One man took advantage of the distraction and punched the Doctor hard in the stomach, sending him to his hands and knees.

"The prisoner will be secured in a moment, sir," the man called Justin informed breathlessly. He gave the downed Time Lord a savage kick in the ribs, sending him back against the wall. "Once we beat a little sense in to him," he added angrily.

"That won't be necessary," the Benefactor replied calmly.

The men exchanged a confused look. "Sir, he isn't secured yet."

"I can see that." The Benefactor took in the gasping form on the floor. "He isn't likely to pull a weapon, now, is he?"

"No, sir." Justin cleared his throat. "But…I think …"

"He doesn't want any witnesses, you idiot!" the Doctor snapped impatiently.

Justin gave the Time Lord a stunned look, turning back to the Benefactor, who waved a hand in dismissal. He gave a shrug and left, herding the others with him.

"Now what?" the Doctor asked as the robed man locked the door and crossed to the computer terminal on the far side of the room. "You've already got the humiliation phase out of the way. What next? Threats? Torture? A combination of both?" He slowly got to his feet. "You're obviously planning on killing me. So why don't you just drop all this Benefactor nonsense and tell me who you really are. I don't think it'll read too well on my death certificate at any rate. Cause of death—the Benefactor." His voice rose in pitch as he demanded, "Just who are you?"

The man across the room shook his head as he removed his all-concealing cloak. "Unbelievable. Here you are, stripped of your…dignity, and you _still_ manage to stay in control of things." He tossed the garment onto the chair and turned, his voice changing the same instant. "As for who I am, you already know that."

The Doctor's eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open. "Jason…" he breathed, not quite able to take it in. "I left you in the sickbay."

"With orders that I remain unconscious until repairs to my system were completed," the Alterran replied in a slightly angry tone. "I know. You thought you had another two days. Thing is, you have to ask my computer questions in just the right way."

"The time frame was _inclusive_." The Doctor cursed under his breath. "I should've realized!"

"I completely reprogrammed all the _ARGO's _systems. The computer will defend me at all costs." Jason's voice hardened as he added, "Even from you."

This only seemed to verify the Doctor's fears that his longtime friend was now his enemy and he looked him up and down. "Which part are you playing now?" he asked coldly. "Leader THREE? No, he's dead. Ambassador Krystovan? No, he's dead, too. The Benefactor, perhaps?"

"Well, at least he's not dead," Jason observed lightly. He paused, throwing a quick glance over to the door.

"You never told them you weren't human, did you?"

"I never do. You're the only one who knows different," the Alterran replied as he came to stand before the Doctor.

"I know different about a lot of things," the Time Lord said coolly. His hand suddenly flashed out and stabbed into Jason's throat just above the collarbone, paralyzing him where he stood. "Such as, when you're in human form, you're just as frail and vulnerable as they are."

The Alterran gasped, a shocked look passing over his face; his eyes flashed to the bindings on the wall and back to the Doctor's face. Although unable to move, found he could still speak and gave a wry smile. "Did you come across that in my computer, too, Doctor?" he asked mildly.

"Never mind that. How do I get out of here without being seen?" the Doctor demanded.

"That's going to be difficult considering you're stark naked," Jason observed blandly.

"You let me worry about that."

"I think you should be more worried about getting past the man outside the door."

The Doctor frowned. "You sent them all away."

"I heard him just now, but if you say they've gone…"

"I'm in no mood for this, Jason," the Doctor growled impatiently. "I want a straight answer from you."

"Alright. Incase you've forgotten, those of us in the First Circle can counteract the frailty of a human form," the Alterran stated matter of factly. His hand suddenly flashed up and took the astonished Time Lord by the throat. He slammed him back against the wall with such force that he knocked the breath out of him. "Oh yeah, and I'm _not _the Benefactor. How's _that_ for a straight answer?"


	19. Do You Trust Me?

**CHAPTER 19**

**DO YOU TRUST ME**?

In a blink, Jason was in his true form. (The sight of which stunned the unprepared individuals watching in the courtroom.) His main body was large and bulbous in shape with sapphire blue crystals evenly spaced around the circumference. His appendages were tendrils, seemingly too numerous to count that snaked down to the floor, barely touching the surface as he hovered in the air. Suddenly the Doctor's body was completely entwined, a single thick tendril wrapped around his neck.

Too stunned to fight back, the Doctor could only struggle to get his breath back as his legs were thrust against the wall, thick restraints pulled tight around his ankles and thighs. At the same time, his arms were forced up into straps, securing his wrists and forearms into place. By the time he recovered enough to realize what was happening, two thick straps were being crisscrossed over his shoulders and upper chest, another across his hips, making it impossible for him to move. Nevertheless, the Doctor struggled briefly in his bindings. He did not attempt to speak, however, as the coil was still wrapped threateningly around his throat. He suddenly realized the pounding he was hearing was not the blood in his ears but someone on the opposite side of the door.

"That nonexistent man seems to want in very badly," Jason observed mildly. He returned to his guise as the Benefactor and crossed to the door. He opened it to find Justin about to fire his weapon at the lock. "Is there a problem?"

Justin went pale. "Sir!" he gasped. "I heard…um, sounds."

"Sounds?"

"Yes, sir. I thought you needed help."

"Indeed?" the man beneath the hood purred. He took a step back, allowing the man to see into the room. Justin's mouth dropped open when he saw the helpless prisoner spread-eagled against the wall and securely strapped into place. He could not quite believe that the man before him had managed to do single-handedly what he and four others could not.

"As you can see, I'm in no need of assistance. But perhaps a weapon would be prudent." The fake Benefactor held out a hand and Justin surrendered his weapon. Then he fled when his superior snarled, "Now go before I do the same to you!"

Jason returned to his normal human appearance and locked the door. He looked at the gun in his hand and gave a disgusted snort. "This thing's an antique. It's like everything else around here. Out of order." He tossed the weapon onto the Doctor's clothes that were in a discarded heap on the floor and then crossed to the computer, rummaging in the folds of his original disguise. The Doctor could not see what, but was certain he swallowed something.

"If you're not he Benefactor, what're you doing here?" he demanded finally.

The Alterran was idly twisting a piece of cloth through his fingers as he turned back to face him. "I should think that was obvious," he replied in a slightly annoyed tone.

"You followed me."

"Yes."

"How? And don't say in the transmat. How did you know exactly where I was?"

Jason gave a small smile. "That would be telling."

The Doctor pulled against his bindings in frustration, a growl rising in his throat. "More deception? Just how much of this is real? Where does deception end and reality begin?"

"Are you saying deception isn't reality?" the Alterran said as he slowly crossed the room. "Maybe some things are more real than others."

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"Do you really want me to spell it out?" Jason said in a slightly surprised tone. "Okay, my hatred isn't real. My anger, feelings of betrayal, mistrust, and rage that I feel every time I look at you…they aren't real either. None of this is real. It's _all_ an illusion and I don't really want to kill you." He paused, asking sharply, "Does _that_ clarify everything?"

The Doctor felt a chill run down his spine. Jason loved sarcasm and had an incredible sense for the ironic. With all that had happened since his arrival on the planet, he was certain that this was the meaning behind the reply. It was only then that he noticed the Prince was looking at the still healing bullet wound on his chest. The bandages were gone, but the wound was clearly visible. He felt both his hearts jump as it suddenly occurred to him that he had let his outrage blind him to the fact that he was completely helpless and locked in a room with a man—no, an incredibly powerful being—who had already tried to kill him once and seemed inclined to try a second time.

As Jason crossed the room, he seemed to start, throwing a quick look at the door before stepping directly in front of his helpless prisoner and placing his left hand flat on his chest directly over the bullet wound, an action that only seemed to confirm the Doctor's worst fears.

"Are you going to kill me, Jason?" the Doctor asked in as even a tone as he could manage.

When Jason looked up, his eyes were glowing so fiercely that the Doctor stiffened involuntarily, his throat going dry. He watched in an appalled silence as the Alterran's eyes changed from human to the crystalline sensors of his true form.

"Tell me, Doctor. Do you trust me?" the Prince said softly.

The Doctor had asked this very question a hundred times before as a reassurance. Now it seemed more like a taunt and he found it chilling. "What?" he asked in a horrified whisper.

oOo

The image suddenly froze. Fitzhugh was on his feet looking from the image of the Doctor's aghast expression and back to the man himself. "An interesting question given the circumstances," he observed condescendingly. "Please tell us, Doctor. At that moment. Did you believe the accused meant to take your life?"

The Doctor dared not look in his friend's direction as he quietly replied, "Yes."

"A little louder, please," the prosecutor said flatly.

"I said yes," the Doctor snapped.

Fitzhugh gave a grunt of approval. "Please tell the court why you believed the accused meant to take your life?"

"You don't have to enjoy this so much, you know!"

"Strike as unresponsive," Fitzhugh replied, repeating, "Please tell the court—"

"Because he'd tried once before!" The words were out of the Doctor's mouth before he could stop himself. He wanted to snatch them back, rewind the words as he had been able to rewind the extracts, but the damage was done. It was all he could do to keep from turning back to look at Jason, whom he was certain would be looking at him with the same expression of betrayal as the first day of the inquiry.

Fitzhugh continued to press home his advantage. "At the Tri Global headquarters?"

"Yes!"

"So, based on the information you had at the time, would you've described the accused as a dangerous, deranged individual?"

The Doctor gritted his teeth before replying. "Yes."

"You believed him deranged then, Doctor. Yet now you maintain he is not."

The Doctor had finally had enough. "Are you changing the focus of your inquiries to _me_ again, my lord prosecutor?" he asked pointedly.

"If that's an objection, Doctor," Eustis cut in sharply, "you are sustained. You've made you point, Lord Fitzhugh."

oOo


	20. This Isn't Going To Be Pleasant

**CHAPTER 20**

**THIS ISN'T GOING TO BE PLEASANT.**

The extract rewound and began as the Prince asked, "Tell me Doctor. Do you trust me?"

"What?" the Doctor asked in a horrified whisper.

Jason had already shifted his intense gaze to the Time Lord's rib cage. A large bruise was forming where Justin had kicked him. He looked up again, holding up the cloth he had been playing with. It was now in a neatly folded rectangle. "Bite," he ordered.

"Why?"

"Because this isn't going to be pleasant."

"Why am I not surprised?" the Doctor replied darkly. He felt an energy discharge from the hand Jason held to his chest and caught his breath, which allowed the Alterran to force the cloth between his teeth. Then pain caused him to clamp down on it.

The Doctor saw Jason's eyes blaze even brighter before going dull, and knew he was scanning him. He looked down and was appalled to see the Alterran's right arm had changed into a tendril and was actually penetrating his body just below his rib cage. It was shimmering as when he transmuted, his own torso shimmering as if in response. It felt like thousands of ants were crawling under his skin. He watched in horrified fascination as the alien appendage slid deeper inside his body. He wanted to scream out the words _"What are you doing?" _but instead bit down on the cloth in his mouth, the words becoming the unmistakable sound of pain rising in his throat.

The Doctor wanted to thrash, kick, scratch, claw, _anything_ to fight back. He strained against his bindings, but found he could not move. It seemed he could do nothing but bite down on the gag in his mouth, endure the horrific, torturous procedure being performed on him and wait for the end of his life. Then he remembered that the Alterran Healer was one of the few individuals with the skill to prevent him regenerating. _Would this truly be the end of his life? _

He could feel the tendril entering his rib cage, pushing slowly and deliberately upward, the pressure within his chest becoming so great that he started having difficulty breathing. Then he could not draw a breath at all, his lungs seemingly paralyzed. His respiratory by-pass system would not respond either and he was certain he was about to suffocate. Suddenly the tendril stopped, the pressure and pain subsiding. His lungs started working again and, against his better judgment, his body relaxed as he struggled to catch his breath, his gasps coming in small whimpers. Now he was certain the Alterran was toying with him. How easy it would be for him to completely paralyze him and watch him die slowly.

The tendril started moving again and his body reacted instantly, his muscles locking. He clamped down harder on the wad of cloth in his mouth, another scream rising in his throat. _What are you waiting for?_ he wondered helplessly. _Just rip out my hearts and have done with it!_ As if in response to this the tendril stopped, having reached the space between his hearts.

The Doctor felt as if his whole chest cavity were about to burst. Somewhere in the blur of pain and the blood pounding in his ears, he heard Jason say, "Got it!" Then, mercifully, everything went black as he lost consciousness.

o

It could have been seconds, minutes or hours later, the Doctor had no way of telling as he slowly returned to reality and opened his eyes. He was lying on the slab against the wall with the cloak from Jason's disguise covering him. There was a dark shape beside him and he struggled to focus without success. _Did I regenerated? That might explain…_

"Doctor?"

_A voice. I know that voice. Male. Possibly human. No, not human. Not even remotely human. _The Doctor scowled. _Now what was that supposed to mean?_

"Doctor?" the voice said again. "Can you hear me?"

_Yes, that's definitely a familiar voice. _Someone was touching his shoulder. But was he friend or foe?The Doctor closed his unfocused eyes and struggled to concentrate. Something in the back of his mind told him to be on his guard and he concluded that the correct answer was foe. He gave a low groan as he opened his eyes again. "Where am I?" he asked weakly.

"You're still in the Sanctuary," Jason replied calmly. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been turned inside out. Did I regenerate?"

"No. Close, but no."

"It feels like I have." The Doctor struggled to concentrate. "I can't seem to move."

"I know. That's my doing."

The Doctor blinked to clear his vision, scowling at the owner of the voice. "Jason? I don't…" he said in bewilderment. The events of the past half hour suddenly exploded in his mind. "Your doing?" he said more firmly, an accusing edge finding its way into his voice.

"You were trying to regenerate prematurely," the Alterran informed calmly. "The paralysis is a temporary side effect of the medication that prevented it happening." He received a skeptical look in reply and sighed heavily. "I'm telling the truth."

"Why start now?"

Jason chose to ignore the barbed comment. "Just try moving your fingers."

The Doctor found he could move his fingers, and then his hands. Then his mind cleared enough for him to realize he was no longer strapped to the wall. "Have we moved on to a new game?" he asked bitterly.

"Game?"

"Yes, game. You're playing at something," the Doctor said as he struggled to a sitting position. "I just don't know what yet." He leaned back against the wall, scrutinizing the Alterran.

"Payback's a bitch, ain't it, Doctor?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you don't like it when you're not the one who knows everything that's going on," the Prince replied knowingly. He held up a small silver object. "Know what this is?"

The Doctor replied immediately. "It's a pacemaker."

"Not quite. It's more like an anti-pacemaker. A remote control heart attack." Jason handed the object to the Doctor, who turned it over in his hands. "And I have a horrible feeling it may be compliments of the Benefactor."

The Doctor suddenly remembered the incident with the Benefactor and a hand went to his chest. "No one leaves the Sanctuary and lives to tell about it," he said in a horrified whisper.

"Yes," Jason replied. "Those things are getting implanted in everyone who leaves. Then with the touch of a button, they're another casualty of war."

"How do you know all that?" the Doctor asked suspiciously.

"Because they've been turning up in the bodies of apparent heart attack victims—every one of whom was supposed to've died by dispersal. But instead of being dispersed, they turned up at the Sanctuary. Then when they left…"

The Doctor gave him an appalled look. "Jason, _I_ turned up at the Sanctuary!"

"Yes, I know. I'm the one who sent you, remember?"

"Don't remind me."

The Alterran gave him a sideways glance. "I can only assume the transmat implants the things." He held up another silver device. "This one's mine. That one's yours."

"What? Did you just…?" The Doctor stared in a combination of amazement and anger. "You might've warned me!"

"Oh, yeah. That explanation would've gone over like gang busters!" Jason replied defensively. "You're the one who thought I was about to kill you."

"Your actions were hardly conducive with benevolence."

"Look who's talking," Jason shot back, rubbing his bruised collarbone. His voice became light, dripping with sarcasm at the same time. "Okay, Doctor, here's the deal. I know you think I'm about to kill you, but that's not the worst of it. I've just discovered a small bomb in your chest. I'm going to have to strap you down so I can reach in and pull it out before it goes off and kills you. Oh yeah, and it's gonna hurt like hell when I do it. What d'ya say?" He paused, adding, "You'd've jumped at the chance, wouldn't you?"

The Doctor gave him a dark look, rubbing his chest. "The least you could've done was use an anesthetic."

"It wouldn't've helped. Not with the molecular bond pulled apart like that," Jason replied matter of factly. "Just be glad I'm in the First Circle. Otherwise I'd've had to cut you open to get that out."

The Doctor looked at the deadly device in his hands and then Jason's remark struck him. "Hang on, did you say you'd _just_ discovered this?"

"Yes, I did," Jason replied firmly. "It wasn't there when you touched me at Tri Global. But when you did your little paralysis trick…"

"You scanned me even then?"

"You're joking, right? With that time aura, it's automatic. Anyway, it helped me find mine." The Alterran picked up a glass from the floor beside him and held it out. "Here, drink this."

The Doctor gave him a skeptical look. "Now who's joking?"

"It's just water!" Jason cried in exasperation. He took a sip and offered the glass again. "There. Do you think I'm trying to poison you now?"

"I haven't the slightest idea what to think," the Time Lord replied truthfully as he took the glass. "One minute you're a raving lunatic, and the next you're in Healer mode. You've explained nothing. You've tried to kill me at least once. And now I'm to take everything on faith. Well, I'm sorry, Jason, but I can't do that. Not any more."

Jason sat silently a moment as he considered this. "Fine, whatever," he said, waving a hand in the air. He turned and plucked the Doctor's coat from the pile on the floor and searched through the pockets, pulling out a small blue disk. "There it is," he whispered triumphantly and held the object up.

"It's your recall disk," the Doctor admitted somewhat guiltily. "I picked it up before I—" He caught his breath. "_That's_ how you found me!"

"You got it in one."

"And the rest of it?" the Doctor practically demanded.

Jason scowled. "Rest of it?"

"Why did you follow me in the first place? Surely it wasn't for philanthropic reasons."

The Alterran sat back and studied him a moment. "You didn't sign off the computer when you left. It wasn't too great a leap to figure out where you'd gone."

"Of course," the Doctor moaned, suddenly feeling incredibly stupid. "I left the map of the Sanctuary on the screen."

"Yes. I don't know about you, but I've a few questions for the Benefactor. And not just about these," Jason said darkly, holding up the pacemaker. He crept to the door and listened. "Good. He's finally gone." He looked at the Doctor and grinned. "I think you scared him off."

"I'm not sure how to respond to that."

Jason scooped up the Time Lord's clothes and tossed them to him. "Here, get dressed. If I know you, you'll come up with something later."

oOo


	21. End Day One

**CHAPTER 21**

**END DAY ONE**

As the extract ended, the Doctor paused and looked up. The prosecutor was already on his feet. "Doctor, would I be correct in assuming you allowed the accused to accompany you in your search for the Benefactor?" Fitzhugh asked.

"You would," the Doctor replied guardedly.

"May I ask why? Considering what we've just seen, it doesn't seem…logical."

The Doctor stiffened slightly, knowing how his reply would be taken. "It was safer than having him roaming the ship on his own."

"Safer?" Fitzhugh replied. "For whom?"

"At the time, I felt it was safer for me."

"In what way?"

"I wanted to keep an eye on him," the Doctor grudgingly admitted. "There was a great deal he wasn't telling me, and I couldn't exactly learn what it was if I let him go swanning off after the Benefactor on his own."

"Indeed. Your logic is…original, Doctor," Fitzhugh replied smugly. "No further questions."

Suddenly Eustis spoke up. "I have a question, Doctor."

The Doctor was taken aback. "My lord?"

"The accused twice mentioned being in the First Circle in a manner that suggests it's of some significance. And while you've supplied ample documentation on the idioms and colloquialisms used in the extracts," the Inquisitor complemented, indicating the stack of folders on his desk, "I see no mention if it."

The Doctor stiffened slightly and threw an apologetic look in Jason's direction, seeing him draw a deep breath and close his eyes. Until now, only the Doctor had been privy to this particular secret relating to the powers he possessed. "The First Circle," the Time Lord began slowly, "is an archaic Alterran reference used to describe those rare individuals who can take on another form without losing or diminishing the powers of their true selves."

There was a stunned silence before Eustis finally asked, "Doctor, am I to understand that this holds true with the accused?"

"It does." The Doctor knew the next question before it was asked. "The barrier generator has the same effect on those in the First Circle as they do with every other Alterran."

Eustis gave him a long disapproving glare before saying, "Thank you for clarifying, Doctor. Proceed."

The Doctor cleared his throat before going on with the defense. "Using the terminal in the interrogation room, we discovered that it appeared the ship's systems were being put back on-line but were unable to learn more when the computer burned out. We were forced to go ourselves to see how close this operation was to completion. This search eventually led us to the area above the engine room. The Benefactor had initiated the ignition sequence by this time and explosions were happening all over the ship. I was knocked unconscious by some flying debris from one such explosion."

The Doctor turned to the screen. "For reasons I did not understand at the time, Prince Jason transported the both of us back to the _ARGO_. It was there that I awoke. And it was there that I witnessed this…"

oOo

A white mushroom cloud appeared on the surface of Eldeberon, billowing up from one of the continents, flames erupting from within as it blossomed ever higher into the atmosphere. Then the unthinkable happened. The atmosphere suddenly burst into flame. The inferno rolled around the globe like a great wave until the entire surface was awash in its glow. When the blazing light finally faded, it revealed a blackened husk where there had once been a thriving world.

oOo

The atmosphere in the courtroom suddenly seemed heavy, the somber mood now one of shock and horror. The Doctor waited a moment before he brought up the lights. "The fuel that had been dumped into the planet's atmosphere by the Glyateven prison ship had combined with the pollutants already there," he said solemnly. "Over the weeks, it changed the composition of the upper atmosphere into an extremely volatile mixture that needed just one more component, and an ignition source. It found both in the superheated gases of the mushroom cloud. Within minutes, all the oceans boiled away, all the oxygen was consumed, and all life on Eldeberon…extinguished."

Pausing a moment, the Doctor announced calmly, "My lord, that is the last section of my testimony."

_Thank goodness_, Eustis thought shakily. "The hour is late," he observed with some relief. "Lord Fitzhugh, does the prosecution have any questions?"

"None that cannot wait, my lord," the equally shaken Fitzhugh replied.

"Then we will adjourn until morning." Eustis banged his gavel. He had to concentrate to move at a sedate pace, bowing to the opposing councils as he left the room. He was relieved when he entered his chambers and closed the door, shutting everyone and everything out.

The Doctor sat down, heaving a heavy sigh. He leaned forward and put his head in his hands. "That was exhausting," he observed wearily. "Give me Sontarans over solicitors any day."

Jason smiled sympathetically but did not reply. At that moment, Captain Reinhardt appeared to return him to his cell. The officer stopped short when he saw the Doctor still present. "Do you wish me to wait, sir?" he asked politely.

The Doctor looked up sharply. "No, no, you carry on."

The Prince threw him a sideways glance but remained silent. He stood up and held out his hands, waiting patiently as his shackles and chains were fastened into place. It had slipped his mind to step down from the prisoner's dock when he had the chance, the chains on his feet making it difficult to maneuver.

The Doctor silently marveled as Reinhardt gently assisted the Alterran down from the raised platform, making certain he did not fall. Once on solid ground, Jason closed his eyes. The first few minutes after the activation of his bindings completely threw off his equilibrium, and he stood clinging to the officer's arm, wavering slightly on his feet.

The Doctor watched all this and wondered why he had failed to notice it before. Then it occurred to him that this was the first time that Jason had been free of his bindings while in court.

When the Prince opened his eyes, Reinhardt asked quietly, "Ready, your highness?"

"Yes, thank you," Jason replied, equally quietly.

The Guard Captain slowly led his prisoner from the room and back to his cell, leaving the Doctor still marveling. It was all too obvious that Jason's insight into the Captain's character went well beyond his lack of fear towards him.


	22. Argo Logs

**CHAPTER 22**

**ARGO LOGS**

Eustis was at his desk in chambers staring into space, dazed and slightly overwhelmed by the last extract in the day's proceedings. He was also puzzled, and wondered what the Doctor hoped to prove. Everything he had presented thus far had done nothing to prove Prince Jason's innocence. In fact, many of the extracts only seemed to bolster the prosecution's case. No wonder Fitzhugh had been so quiet.

Suddenly the Doctor came bursting into the room. "Eustis, I need access to the _ARGO_," he said without preamble.

Eustis jumped. "What?" he gasped.

"The _ARGO_. It is here, isn't it?"

"Yes…"

A voice from the outer door asked, "Why would you need access to the _ARGO _when you already have access to the Matrix of Time?"

Startled, the Doctor looked up to see Cardinal Wythe standing in the doorway. "I thought this was a simple criminal trial?" he said sharply. "Is the High Council putting its oar in before all the evidence has been presented?"

Cardinal Wythe smiled thinly. While not dressed in his ceremonial robes, he had an elaborate walking staff in his hand, which had become a fashion for many High Councilors to carry. As he entered the room, the Doctor noticed that he used it to maintain his balance. "I'm here in an advisory capacity," he informed coolly as he took a seat. "You'll agree, Doctor, such a case as this requires discretion."

"Especially when one's own name is amongst the allegations," the Doctor shot back smoothly.

"Ah, so we finally get to that," the Cardinal replied without surprise. "I wondered if his highness would have you pointing your finger at me. He's already done that once, you know?"

"Oh yes. I also know that you took the usual High Council position and denied everything."

"Doctor!" Eustis admonished sharply.

Wythe held up a hand, waving him to silence. "Since you weren't here for that…sordid business, I'll overlook that remark," he said, his tone suggesting otherwise. "The scene Prince Jason made was quite animated, shall we say. I don't know what he might've done if I hadn't had him removed by—" He broke off when the Doctor folded his arms and scowled disapprovingly, giving an annoyed sigh. If he was trying to elicit sympathy from him, it wasn't working.

Cardinal Eustis intervened a second time. "Doctor, at the time the events on Eldeberon took place, Cardinal Wythe was in the Capitol's intensive care facility recovering from injuries sustained in a very serious fall down a flight of stairs."

The Doctor gave him a startled look before turning back to Wythe. "That explains why you actually _use_ your staff for walking, Cardinal," he observed calmly. He took a seat and studied the High Councilor a moment before asking, "When exactly did this fall take place?"

"Do you doubt _my_ word now, Doctor?" Eustis said tersely. "If need be, I can get the sworn statements of his physicians attesting to the fact that it would've been impossible for him to rise from his bed. I myself visited him in on several occasions."

The Doctor held up his hands. "I'm not doubting your word. I'm just trying to get the timeframe straight in my head," he said quickly.

Wythe furrowed his brow as he thought back. Then he looked at the Inquisitor. "Eustis, you have the exact time references, don't you?"

Eustis turned, retrieving the information from the terminal on the corner of his desk. "Yes, here it is," he muttered triumphantly. "Cardinal Wythe's fall was…seventeen days prior to the time Prince Jason alleges he contacted him."

The Doctor sat back in his chair, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Well, Doctor," Wythe said challengingly. "What do you have to say to that?"

"I say there's something more to all this that we're not seeing, Cardinal. Too many anomalies haven't been accounted for," the Doctor replied vaguely, his eyes focused in the distance. He looked up, saying in a firm voice, "Which is why I need access to the _ARGO, _Eustis."

"Well…" Eustis hesitated, glancing in Wythe's direction and seeing him nod. "Very well, Doctor. Why not?"

* * *

Oblivious of the Doctor's current exploits, Jason had eaten his dinner and curled up in bed for the night. Not that he expected to get any sleep. This precious commodity had eluded him since his arrest so many weeks ago.

The Doctor suddenly burst into the holding area, the door clanging loudly behind him. Jason nearly jumped out of his skin and sat up, seeing the Time Lord storming into the room.

"I want answers from you!" the Doctor thundered as he crossed the room. He turned to the flustered sentry who had been trying unsuccessfully to keep him from entering. Waving a hand, he ordered, "Don't just stand there, man! Get this thing open."

The shocked guard stammered out something about needing authorization. The look he received in reply made him flinch.

"I didn't ask you to let him out," the Doctor snapped impatiently, "I want _you_ to let _me_ in."

The guard was certain this was not proper protocol and that he would get into a great deal of trouble should anything go wrong. Nevertheless, he did as ordered, watching as the apparently raging Time Lord entered the cell. He switched on the forcefield and left the room, thinking that this was the first time he thought it might be the prisoner to be the one in danger.

Jason watched this entire display in astonishment, wondering where this tantrum had come from. He had barely spoken to the Doctor since he poured out his story to him several days earlier. He feared something had gone desperately wrong and that he had suddenly lost the only ally he had. "What happened? What's gone wrong?" he asked, not daring to move.

The Doctor's eyes sparkled and he broke into a broad smile. "Nothing. That was just for the guard's benefit."

Jason groaned, closing his eyes and flopping back onto the bed. "And you call _me _melodramatic," he said in a relieved tone.

The Doctor pulled up a chair, sat down and then bounded to his feet again, too full of energy to sit still for a second. "I've been going through your ship's logs," he informed brightly.

Jason groaned again. "_That's _what got you so excited?"

"Yes!"

"Why? My personal logs were just mission notes. I told you that."

The Doctor's smile broadened. "Not you personal logs. Your _security_ logs."

The Alterran scowled and sat up again. "Security logs? What security logs?"

"Jason, you idiot! Have you forgotten what you programmed that ship to do?"

"Yes, actually," came embarrassed reply.

This admission was enough to stop the Doctor from moving, at least for a few seconds. "Really?" he replied in amazement. "How's that possible?" Jason's gift of total recall had been a constant source of annoyance to him over the years.

The Alterran gave a self-conscious smile. "After I was kidnapped, I…uh, went a little nuts. Well, I went a lot nuts, actually. Paranoid, if you must know."

The Doctor's expression changed to one of concern and he finally sat down. "Understandable, given the circumstances."

"Yes, but you were there. You can understand why I went off the deep end for—" Jason moaned, running his fingers through his hair. "This is really going to help my case, isn't it?"

"You promised me straight answers," the Doctor reminded gently.

"I know. But this is still hard for me."

"Just take your time."

The Alterran nodded, running a hand through his hair a second time. "My therapist suggested that I sit down and work out exactly what I was afraid of. Worse case scenario." He drew a deep breath, adding darkly, "Like I hadn't just lived through that already. I'd just got the redesigned _ARGO _and ended up locking myself in and reprogramming every system on the ship—several times. I came up with the most ridiculous events I could think of."

"And did it help?" the Doctor wanted to know.

"I don't know. Maybe. Now instead of me being paranoid, my ship is," Jason said with a smile of irony.

"Yes. And now your security system records and stores everything when someone is onboard," the Doctor replied firmly.

Jason's eyes narrowed and then grew wide. "Are you saying…?" He caught his breath. "It recorded my meeting with Wythe!" he exclaimed, only to scowl. "Wait a minute. Shouldn't that be in the Matrix, too?

The Doctor gave him a knowing smile. "That's something we've got to talk about."

** oOo** **END PART TWO oOo**


	23. Part Three: Defense: Day Two

**PART THREE  
JASON'S SIDE**

**CHAPTER 23**

**DEFENSE: DAY TWO**

Eustis arrived at his chambers first thing in the morning to find the Doctor already there and working diligently at the computer. "Good morning, Eustis," he said brightly as the Inquisitor entered.

"Doctor, may I ask what you're doing?" the Cardinal asked astringently.

"Research," came the succinct reply.

"Dare I ask what kind of research necessitated your breaking into my chambers?"

The Doctor gave him an injured look. "I didn't break in. One of your staff was kind enough to open the door for me."

Eustis scowled and made a mental note to have a strong word with his staff. Accepting defeat, he sighed and crossed to the desk. "And your research is…?"

"Cardinal Wythe's medical report, for a start," the Doctor replied, adding quickly, "I'm still trying to work out a timeline."

"I see."

The Doctor doubted that but kept this thought to himself. "Well, I must be off," he said, bounding to his feet. "I have to a few things to sort out before today's session begins."

The Cardinal glanced at the clock on his desk. "You don't have much time."

"Time, Cardinal, is exactly what I do have," the Doctor replied mysteriously as he vanished through the door.

* * *

The Doctor arrived at the courtroom only minutes before the session was due to start. He entered hurriedly via a side door and then stopped dead in his tracks. The gallery was packed. _Now what?_ he wondered darkly as he took his place at the defense rostrum.

The Inquisitor entered, acknowledging the assemble observers and the opposing councils before taking a seat and calling the room to order. He then called for Jason to be brought in. Among the other issues the Doctor had resolved, he had managed to convince Eustis that the use of ankle chains was unnecessary. The manacles used on the Alterran's hands were more than enough to prevent him transmuting.

Jason had the same reaction as the Doctor when he saw the gallery packed with High Council members, stopping dead in his tracks.

The Doctor saw a panic-stricken expression come to his friend's face and shook his head warningly when the Alterran Prince looked over at him.

Reinhardt saw his prisoner stiffen visibly before he stopped dead. He followed his gaze, seeing the cause of his distress. "Are you alright, sir?" he said quietly.

Jason turned sharply to his escort and then closed his eyes, drawing a deep breath. "Not really, to be honest. I'm scared to death," he said in an equally quiet voice.

"Just take your time, sir." Reinhardt waited until the Prince composed himself before continuing to the prisoner's dock. He tried to ignore the disapproving murmurs from the gallery as he removed the restraints.

Eustis had to bang his gavel several times before the murmurs were silenced and the room was bought to order. "My Lord Fitzhugh," he said at last, "when we adjourned, you stated that you'd hold your questions until morning."

Fitzhugh inclined his head. "Thank you, my lord. But after careful consideration, I can't think of anything that can't wait until closing arguments."

"That's a bit premature, isn't it?" the Doctor rejoined sharply. "I haven't rested my case yet."

Fitzhugh blinked, exchanging a puzzled look with the Inquisitor. "I don't understand, Doctor. From what you said yesterday…"

"I said I'd shown the last section of my testimony. _My own_ testimony," the Doctor corrected sharply. Realization dawned and he took in the assembled spectators, seeing them in a whole new light. "Now I understand. You all thought I was going to rest my case today, didn't you?" he said accusingly, his voice rising in pitch. "Then you could end this simple criminal trial and start another with all the allegations included, thus allowing you to execute Prince Jason without having to admit any culpability. Well, if that's what you're going to do, then do it!"

"_Doctor…!"_ the horrified Jason said between his teeth. It was all well and good for the Doctor to challenge the High Council. He wasn't the one they were accusing of genocide. Nor was he the one who would be executed if things went wrong.

Jason had kept his voice low, but it had been unnecessary. The gallery had burst into a flurry of hushed conversations.

The Doctor stepped back but did not take his eyes from his astonished audience. "Quiet! I know what I'm doing," he said in a quiet yet firm voice.

The Prince could only reply with a small squeak of disbelief.

"We both know they were going to do it sooner or later. Best to get it over with," the Time Lord informed softly. "Now just—" He broke off before the words "trust me" passed his lips and turned sharply to Jason, a pleading look on his face.

Knowing exactly what he was thinking, the Prince's eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare say it," he admonished.

While all this was going on, a member of the High Council directly behind Eustis had leaned forward, speaking quietly to him. They had a brief conversation before the Inquisitor finally turned back, tapping his gavel on the desk for silence. "Doctor, do I understand you correctly? You're requesting that _all _the allegations against Prince Jason, including those not incorporated at this time be made official?"

"I am," the Doctor said firmly. "And before my opponent raises any objection, I will agree to stipulate _again_ to all evidence already presented by the prosecution."

A stunned silence followed.

Jason looked at the shocked faces of the assembled Time Lords and wondered if his own were a mirror image. He could feel his panic rising and had to concentrate to stay calm. Now it was his turn to wonder what he had gotten himself into when he agreed to allow the Doctor to act as his defense council.

"I have no objection to this, my lord," Fitzhugh injected quickly, "so long as the accused agrees that he will not enter a protest at a later date claiming he was inadequately represented."

"Indeed," Eustis replied frostily. He looked from one to another, his face darkening as he did so. "Well, my lord Fitzhugh, _I_ do not agree. Not to any of this." He turned a baleful look in the direction of the assembled spectators. "This trial will continue in its present form until _both_ sides have presented their evidence. Then and _only_ then, will the decision be made as to whether further charges are warranted."

The gallery burst into another flurry of murmurs to which Eustis banged his gavel for order. It was obvious he was in no mood for any of this. "I will not be pressured into turning my court into a mockery of justice. We've had quite enough of _that_ already."

"Wow," Jason said quietly, exchanging a look of astonishment with the Doctor, who was clearly impressed, his opinion of Eustis clicking up several notches at the same time. Few individuals dared openly defy the members of the High Council—other than himself of course.

"Now, Lord Fitzhugh," Eustis said in a no nonsense tone, "do you have any questions pertaining to yesterday's proceedings before the Doctor continues with the defense?"

The stunned prosecutor was standing with his mouth open. "Uh, no, my lord," he said at last.

"Then you may proceed, Doctor."


	24. Conspiracy Theories

**CHAPTER 24**

**CONSPIRACY THEORIES**

Considering the Inquisitor's current mood, the Doctor was uncertain how his next presentation would be taken and drew a deep breath. "My lord, I'd like to ask the court's indulgence a moment. The record indicates that at the time of his arrest, Prince Jason accused Cardinal Wythe of being the author of this conspiracy…"

The gallery immediately started murmuring again. Eustis banged his gavel for order and turned to address them. "My lords and ladies, you are in this court strictly as a courtesy. If you cannot observe in silence, I shall have the gallery cleared," he reproved sharply. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Way to go, Eustis," Jason said under his breath. The Doctor gave him a quelling look and he made a show of clamping his lips together.

Oblivious to this by-play, the Inquisitor commanded, "Proceed, Doctor."

The Doctor drew himself to his full height before going on, "I met with the Cardinal this morning and told him I would be entering those charges into the record. I asked him to be present to give his side of the story." As he was speaking, the Cardinal slowly made his way to the front of the room. The Doctor turned, waving to one of the bailiffs to bring forward the chair he had arranged for the still recuperating High Councilor use.

"Thank you for coming, Cardinal," Eustis said politely as Wythe took a seat.

"I must confess, I'm more than a little curious as to the Doctor's newest theories," Wythe replied cheerily. Jason was surprised to see that he actually seemed to be enjoying himself.

The Doctor smiled knowing. "As I stated before, it was Prince Jason's contention that Cardinal Wythe perpetrated the conspiracy in which he was involved. Last night, I viewed the security archive aboard the _ARGO _and discovered something interesting." He pressed a button and the screen at the back of the courtroom came to life.

oOo

The interior of the conference room on the _ARGO _appeared. A moment later, Jason entered and turned, holding out a hand. "This will do, I think, Cardinal. Please, have a seat."

The person to whom he spoke stepped through the door. It was Cardinal Wythe. As he looked around the room, the Doctor froze the image.

oOo

"I object!" Fitzhugh cried, practically jumping to his feet. "This is clearly an attempt to smear the name of a highly respected member of the High Council. I ordered the Matrix thoroughly searched in the time reference this meeting allegedly took place. This recording was not there."

"No, it wouldn't've been," the Doctor replied mildly, surprising everyone in the room.

Eustis blinked. "Doctor, are you admitting this recording is a fake?"

"No. The recording is genuine," the Doctor replied to the further surprise of all present.

"That's impossible!" Fitzhugh practically exploded. "The Matrix records everything in a sector where a TARDIS is present."

"You're the expert, Cardinal Wythe," the Doctor said suddenly, turning to the surprised High Councilor. "Is there a way of shielding a vessel against the Matrix of Time?"

"Doctor," Eustis broke in quickly, "have you asked the Cardinal here as an expert? Or to answer these specious accusations?"

The Doctor grinned unabashedly. "Both. Before he was appointed to the High Council, the Cardinal was a Keeper of the Matrix of Time."

"That was a very long time ago, Doctor," Wythe replied in a wistful voice. "Before I taught at the Academy, in fact."

"But you were a Keeper at one time?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, yes. For a good many years."

The Doctor gave a triumphant smile, looking over at the Inquisitor. "I should think that qualifies him as an expert in these matters."

"Agreed," Eustis replied, going on to ask, "Cardinal, is there a way of shielding against the Matrix as the Doctor alleges?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is," Wythe replied startlingly. "The presence of a temporal dampening field would be more than effective in blocking out…er, unwanted observation."

"And could someone carry a temporal dampening unit on their person?" the Doctor then asked.

Fitzhugh gave a startled noise. "Doctor, are you suggesting that Cardinal Wythe carried such a unit onto the _ARGO_, hatched out this conspiracy and then returned to his hospital bed where his several broken limbs could finish healing?" he asked sarcastically.

There were snickers from the gallery in response this.

"The prosecutor raises a valid point, Doctor," Eustis injected coldly, ignoring the assembled observers behind him.

"Indeed," the Doctor agreed. "However, everyone seems to be overlooking one single fact that is glaringly obvious."

"Then pray, Doctor," Fitzhugh said smugly, "enlighten us."

"Time."

Eustis exchanged a puzzled look with Wythe. "Time?" he repeated.

"Yes. Or more accurately, time travel. How difficult do you think it would be for a Time Lord, a member of the High Council, an expert in temporal dynamics, to jump forward in time?" the Doctor asked logically.

"To perpetrate this conspiracy, return to the Capitol and then throw himself down a flight of stairs," the prosecutor injected derisively. "For a man intelligent enough to arrange all this, as you allege, Doctor, one would think he could find a less painful way of establishing an alibi."

There were more amused titters from the gallery in response to this observation. The Doctor gave Fitzhugh an appraising look. The man seemed to be playing to his audience of influential individuals very handily.

At that moment, Wythe cleared his throat. "If I may, my lord Inquisitor?"

Startled, Eustis turned to the Cardinal, who had been remarkably silent during all this. "You have something to add?"

"Several years ago," Wythe said calmly, "at the request of Emperor Quinton, I had occasion to oversee the installation of a temporal damper in Prince Jason's shuttle. It was my understanding that he was being sent to a sector of space heavily saturated with tachyon particles, a temporal distortion, some such thing…and this necessitated the installation to protect the ship's vital systems."

The Doctor was thunderstruck and turned an accusing look in Jason's direction. To his surprise, the Alterran seemed just as shocked. Either this too had slipped his memory, or he had never been told it had been done.

"So the _ARGO_ is perpetually shielded from the Matrix," Eustis concluded.

"Not quite," Wythe replied with a knowing smile. "The presence of a Time Lord overcomes this…er, flaw."

"In other words, unless a Time Lord is onboard, anything that happens on the _ARGO_ is shielded from the Matrix?" Fitzhugh said in a triumphant tone. He turned to the Doctor, asking, "Do you still maintain that these recordings are genuine, Doctor?"

Apparently forgotten, Jason had been staring at the frozen image on the screen. He crept to the controls and zoomed in on the man's facial features. Then he scowled, looking from the image, to Wythe and back several times. Suddenly he caught his breath. "Doctor!" he gasped, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

The Doctor hadn't even realized the Prince had come up beside him. He turned, seeing him at the controls, transfixed by the image on screen. "Not now, Jason!" he hissed between his teeth.

The Prince ignored the reprimand. "Doctor, his eyes!"

"What about them?"

"Look at his eyes! They're blue. Cardinal Wythe's eyes are _brown_." Jason turned the Doctor and then made an announcement that stunned everyone. "That's not him."

"_What?"_

Everyone turned along with the Doctor to look at the screen. The man in the frozen image did indeed have blue eyes, sapphire blue eyes; a trait indicative of the Alterran Royal Bloodline. The significance of this suddenly dawned on the Doctor and he turned sharply back to Jason, having reached the same conclusion the Alterran had already.

"Set up by an expert," he observed quietly.


	25. Indulge Me

**CHAPTER 25**

"**INDULGE ME."**

Once this second shock had worn off, Fitzhugh was playing to the gallery again. "In the face of this new evidence, Doctor, do you _still_ maintain that Cardinal Wythe perpetrated this _alleged_ conspiracy? The man in that recording is obviously an imposter."

The Doctor cleared his throat, throwing a quick sideways glance in Jason's direction. "It's obvious _now_ that my conclusions were in error," he replied apologetically. A sudden thought struck him and he turned to Wythe, asking, "Cardinal, was anyone with you when you fell?"

"My lord, I see no reason for the Cardinal to be subjected to any more wild accusations?" Fitzhugh objected.

"Indulge me," the Doctor replied in an almost taunting tone of voice. "I read the medical report. It stated that when medical help arrived, you were very close to death."

Wondering exactly where this was leading, Eustis asked, "Cardinal?"

Wythe looked from one to the other. "Yes, as it happens there was someone with me. One of the cadets from the Academy was pestering me about some nonsense." He waved a hand in the air. "I wasn't paying that much attention to him. I was late for a High Council meeting, and the boy wouldn't take no for an answer." He paused, adding reflectively, "I should probably be grateful he was there. After I lost my balance and fell, he's the one who called for help."

"What was his name?" the Doctor wanted to know.

"His name?"

"Yes, it wasn't in the report."

Wythe scowled. "I never learned his name. Nor did I ever see him again." He looked over at Eustis, adding, "I always thought that odd, considering what a nuisance he'd made of himself."

"Really?" the Doctor replied mildly. "That's very interesting."

"Doctor, what are you suggesting?" Wythe asked, only to answer in the next sentence. "That that nice young man pushed me down the stairs?"

"Well, you have to admit, it's an amazing coincidence that at the time this apparent imposter contacted Prince Jason, you were recuperating in intensive care. You were hardly likely to turn up before events had run their course."

"My lord!" Fitzhugh cried in exasperation.

Eustis held up a hand for silence. "Despite your feelings in the matter, Lord Fitzhugh, the Doctor's theory is a valid one." He turned to the Doctor, adding, "Which he still must prove."

The Doctor inclined his head, acknowledging this fact and the challenge it suggested.

"Have you anything more to ask Cardinal Wythe, Doctor?"

"No, my lord."

"You are excused, Cardinal."

The Cardinal slowly got to his feet, having to lean heavily on his walking stick as he did so. Jason watched him pass, wanting desperately to apologize for his abominable behavior. Instead, he sighed heavily and turned back, settling into his seat. The Doctor had already turned things on their head, and they had only just started.

"Proceed, Doctor," Eustis said calmly.

"I should like to play this recording in its entirety," the Doctor announced, adding startlingly, "As the first portion of Prince Jason's testimony."

"You're calling the accused as a witness in his own defense?" the prosecutor asked delightedly. It looked to Jason as though he were about to start smacking his lips.

"I am," the Doctor replied firmly.

"The accused will rise and be sworn in," Eustis instructed, throwing a quelling look in the direction of the gallery.

The Prince got to his feet and took the oath. He was about to return to his seat when Eustis said, "The accused may be seated."

This was the last straw. He'd kept his tongue long enough. Jason gave an annoyed sigh and drew himself to his full height, a fire igniting in his eyes. Seeing this, the Doctor groaned inwardly but did not attempt to intervene. He wouldn't have been able to stop him anyway.

"My lord Inquisitor. My name is Jason Nigel Peregrine Alexander Krystovan," the Alterran aristocrat declared regally. "His Most Royal Highness Crown Prince of Tel-Shye; Ambassador to the Imperial Court of Alterrous, Prince of Tel-Orvan, Duke of Krystos, Duke of Starbridge, Marquis of Krystovan, Earl of Altrose, Barron of Tara, Lord of Keetahra, Heir to the Royal House of Krystovan, and Healer. I will answer to any and all of these titles, but I will _not_ answer to the title _Accused._"

The Inquisitor was complete thrown by this unexpected rebuke. It was also the most he had ever heard the Prince say at one time. "It wasn't the intention of this court of offend, your royal highness," he replied politely.

A small smile of satisfaction came to Jason's face and he inclined his head, accepting the apology before returning to his seat. He returned the Doctor's look of consternation with a stern look of his own. It was a small victory, but under the circumstances, he'd take what he could get.

Eustis cleared his throat nervously. "You may proceed, Doctor."

oOo


	26. The Assignment

**CHAPTER 26**

**THE ASSIGNMENT**

**Mission Assignment**

The extract rewound and began again with the image of the interior of the conference room on the _ARGO_. Jason entered and turned, holding out a hand. "This will do, I think, Cardinal. Please, have a seat." The man they now knew to be an imposter entered and looked around the room before taking a seat at the conference table. He was dressed in a plain, dark business suit rather than the elaborate robes customary to the members of the High Council.

Jason brought over a tray. "Coffee, tea?" he asked politely. His guest declined so he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down. "Now, what can I do for you? Your message was, to say the least, vague."

The Cardinal pulled out a document. "This will explain everything," he replied, handing over the paper and patiently waiting as the Prince read it.

"The Glyateven?" Jason said in distaste. "What does that militaristic lot need me for?"

"It seems they've lost one of their prison ships."

Jason gave him a disbelieving look. "Lost it? How do you lose a prison ship?"

"It wasn't so much lost as it was stolen. Somehow the prisoners managed to take it over and then went and crash landed on a planet called Eldeberon."

"Great. How many aboard?"

"Nearly four-hundred."

"And what do you want me to do, exactly?" the Alterran asked sarcastically. "Ask them nicely to get back on their ship and find another planet to terrorize?"

"Eldeberon is incapable of interstellar travel," the Time Lord informed. "And the ship was badly damaged in the crash."

"Yes, I thought it might've been," the Prince muttered darkly. "Cardinal, I'm already in the middle of preparing something else."

"Yes, I do apologize for having to pull you away like this. But I think you can appreciate that the matter is rather pressing."

Jason sighed heavily and looked back at the paper in his hand. "It's going to take at least a day to get my team back—"

"No team. This is a one man operation."

Jason looked up sharply. "All my missions appear as a one man operation."

"No, I mean literally _one _man."

The Alterran stared at the man opposite him. "You want me to go in _alone?_" he said in disbelief. "Among those bloody lunatics? Are you out of your mind?"

"A plan's already been devised for you," the Cardinal replied happily. "You're a Healer. The perfect cover."

"Cover for what?"

"To inject a retrieval tag subcutaneously."

"Retrieval tag?" the Prince repeated dully. "You mean…like a signal marker?"

"Precisely. Once you've done that, the Glyateven military will be able to locate them and transport them from the planet. They get their prisoners back and Eldeberon is free of alien interference. Simple. You'll be in and out and back to your current assignment in no time." The false Wythe paused. "What do you say?"

"I say no," Jason said firmly. "Look, Cardinal, I realize there's a diplomatic tap dance going on with the Glyateven, but no."

"My dear Ambassador, we can't just turn our backs on them."

"_We?_ When did this become _we?_ Your lot doesn't even get involved, and now suddenly I'm to do it for the team?" Jason said in annoyance. "The Glyateven are a bunch of militaristic fanatics. And you want me to infiltrate a shipload of their escaped prisoners. _Alone_. They're all probably homicidal psychopaths, paranoid schizophrenics, or _worse_. That's not a mission, it's suicide!"

The Time Lord chuckled. "Your Emperor says you make similar protests before every assignment you accept."

Jason blinked and sat back in his chair, his tone softening, "The Emperor? Why didn't you say he's the one who sent you?"

"Ah, well, to be strictly honest, he didn't."

"Oh great," the Alterran moaned. "It's going to be one of those."

"Yes. All your instructions are there. You're to contact no one other than myself."

"Alright, alright, I know the drill." Jason sighed. He considered the situation and looked up. "When am I supposed to leave? Now, I suppose."

The Time Lord grinned as he got to his feet. "I knew you wouldn't let me down," he said cheerfully. "The boxes containing the retrieval tags are outside." He held out his hand and the Alterran looked at it a moment before heading for the door.

"Outside, you say?" Jason said as he left the room.

oOo

When the recording ended, the Doctor paused, looking over at the prosecutor who was getting to his feet. _Time to play to the crowd again_, he thought unkindly.

"Your highness, is it usual for you to receive a…mission in the manner we've just seen?" Fitzhugh asked mildly.

"There is no usual method," Jason replied calmly.

"Individuals come to you at all hours of the day and night, is that what you're saying?"

"No. I'm saying there is no usual method."

"But it was unusual to be asked to go alone?"

"Yes."

Fitzhugh smiled as if he had made some spectacular conclusion. "Have you ever been asked to go anywhere alone?"

"This was the first time," Jason replied, making certain not to give the prosecutor anything to latch on to.

"Didn't you think that odd?"

Jason paused. "It wasn't my decision to make."

"That wasn't my question."

"My lord prosecutor, I've done everything from infiltrate a terrorist group to head up an intergalactic peace summit. Every mission I get strikes me as odd."

"I see," Fitzhugh replied thoughtfully. "Just one more question. Why didn't you shake his hand?"

"Sorry?"

"You maintain that you believed the individual in this recording to be Cardinal Wythe, a senior member of the High Council. Yet you refused to shake his hand. Why?"

"I wish I had. Then none of this nightmare would've happened," the Prince muttered darkly, receiving a bewildered look in reply. "I didn't shake his hand because at the time, I thought he was a Time Lord," he replied, to the further bewilderment of his listeners, and the muttered disapproval of the assembled observers.

Fitzhugh paused before asking in an accusing tone, "You have a problem with Time Lords, your highness?"

Jason gave the Doctor a quick sideways glance, seeing him roll his eyes. Obviously, he too thought this to be a ridiculous question under the present circumstances. "No. I have a problem with time auras," he replied. "Especially unfamiliar ones."

The prosecutor exchanged a puzzled look with Eustis, causing the Doctor to intervene. "My lord, Prince Jason can detect the presence of a time aura on touch. His power to scan anything he touches was thoroughly studied and documented some years ago. Under normal circumstances, he must initiate the scan himself. In the case of a Time Lord, our time aura triggers the scan on contact. That's how he detected the pacemaker in me. I triggered the scan when I touched him."

"I should like to see this documentation, Doctor," Eustis replied sharply.

"It was included in the packet supplied yesterday, my lord," the Doctor informed innocently. He had given the Inquisitor and prosecutor so much documentation that he doubted they had even looked at half of it.

The Inquisitor pulled out the paperwork and skimmed through it, his eyebrows going up as he learned exactly what Jason's scanning ability encompassed. Looking up, he said, "Your explanation is noted, Doctor. Do you have any further questions, Lord Fitzhugh?"

Fitzhugh was reading his own copy of the document and looked up, a stunned look on his face. He pulled off his spectacles and set them back on the podium. "Er…no, my lord," he said at last.

"Proceed, Doctor."


	27. Contact

**CHAPTER 27**

**CONTACT**

The Doctor inclined his head before continuing. "Within a day of receiving this assignment, Prince Jason arrived on Eldeberon and made contact with the Glyateven. This recording—taken from the Matrix archive—is of that meeting."

oOo

**Mission Day One**

Jason was talking with the men who would later become Leaders ONE and TWO. "Look, I know what I'm talking about. If your people aren't inoculated immediately, they'll all be dead within a month."

"I know something of medicine, too, alien," a disheveled man behind him growled.

"Fine. Then you know that, statistically, only three percent of your people will have a natural immunity to this virus." Turning to the man designated as Leader ONE, Jason said forcefully, "That's three out of every hundred. And that's only _this_ one virus. Who's to say the handful that're left will be immune to the next virus? Or the next?"

Leader ONE nodded to Leader TWO and they stepped away, holding a brief conversation.

"I didn't have to come here, you know," Jason called after them. "I could've ignored your distress call and kept on going. But I didn't, fool that I am. Now I'm stuck here along with the lot of you."

"A valid point, alien," ONE stated bluntly.

"My name is Jason, dammit!" the Alterran snapped. "Now do you want my help or not?"

ONE and TWO exchanged a knowing look. "We give permission for you to immunize our men," ONE said at last.

"Finally."

o

The extract blinked, switching to the scene of Jason injecting person after person with the retrieval tags. When the last man was done, he sighed and stretched, rubbing his shoulders. It had been a very long day. He asked the nearest person to take him to the bodies of those who did not survive the impact, explaining that the nano-technology would be able to keep the corpses from infecting the indigenous population.

"You've finished?" ONE asked just as Jason was putting away his equipment.

The Alterran looked up. "Yes, all finished. You won't have to worry about the diseases on this planet ravaging your people."

"We won't have to worry about you, either," TWO snarled threateningly.

Jason looked up just as the man fired a laser pistol. The laser bolt struck him squarely and his body shimmered. A few seconds later, he solidified, completely unharmed, much to the amazement of the Glyateven. They had no way of knowing that his physiology actually thrived on this type of energy, absorbing it completely. "You're welcome," he said sardonically. He touched a small object that looked like a decoration on his shirtsleeve. "This is a personal forcefield generator. It protects me from pot shots like that one." He was not about to reveal the truth about his anatomy to these bloodthirsty lunatics.

ONE and TWO exchanged bewildered look, uncertain what to do next.

"I really don't like being shot at," Jason said truthfully.

oOo

"You highness," the prosecutor asked, "was this story of immunization your way of implanting the retrieval tags previously mentioned?"

"It was," the Prince replied.

"And exactly how were they administered?"

"With a hypo-spray injector."

"The Glyateven weren't suspicious in any way?" Fitzhugh asked mildly.

Jason scowled. "Suspicious?"

"That you were injecting small metal objects into them for no apparent reason."

Realization dawned and Jason's face cleared. He also had to fight the urge to laugh. "Some of the men had been ill prior to the crash, but their symptoms didn't appear until afterward. I convinced them that they had picked up a virus from the indigenous population. I told them the nodules contained the newest in nano-technology and that the nano-bots would combat any alien viruses they might come in contact with. They believed it was from part of the cargo I was supposed to be delivering when I answered their distress call."

"A most ingenious plan. My compliments," Fitzhugh purred.

"Thank you, but I didn't come up with it," Jason stated bluntly. "It was part of the cover story I was given."

The Doctor smiled and the prosecutor cleared his throat. "How long did it take to inject all the Glyateven?" Fitzhugh asked.

The Alterran stood thoughtfully a moment. "Approximately seven hours."

There were surprised murmurs at this reply. The prosecutor threw a quick glance over to the gallery before saying, "This begs the question, why didn't you leave once this was completed?

Before Jason could reply, the Doctor quickly intervened. "That will be made clear in the next recording, my lord prosecutor."

Fitzhugh nodded. "Then I withdraw the question until that time. No further questions."

oOo


	28. Delay

**CHAPTER 28**

**DELAY**

**Mission Day One** - continued

Jason was standing on the flight deck of the _ARGO_, facing the main view screen. "I've finished, Cardinal. You were right. It didn't take long at all. How soon will the extraction team be here?"

"Ah, there's been a delay there," the man on the screen replied apologetically.

The Prince frowned, not liking the sound of this at all. "What kind of delay?"

"The Glyateven government is being…difficult," the Cardinal replied calmly.

"This was supposed to be a done deal!" Jason exploded. "In and out in no time, remember? Those lunatics are already planning on taking over the planet, and they want _me _to help!"

"Excellent!"

"What?" Jason couldn't believe what he was hearing. "There's nothing excellent about it! They want _me_ to take the place of the third member of the Triad, for pity sake!"

"Who better to keep them in check until the extraction team arrives?" came the smug reply.

"They don't want me to keep them in check. They want me to help them take over the planet," the Prince snapped angrily. "I'm a good strategist, but I'm not _that_ good. I doubt they'll be interested in a bloodless coup. They've already tried to shoot me once."

"Obviously they missed," the Time Lord replied aridly.

Jason gave him a sour look. "No, actually, they didn't. I told them I wear a personal forcefield to prevent injury from laser weapons."

"Indeed. How very clever."

"You still think I'm the best man for the job?"

"Ambassador, think of all the innocent people of Eldeberon," the Time Lord on the screen implored.

"I'd rather think of innocent me, if you don't mind," the Alterran retorted. "That wasn't the assignment. Now you're asking me to completely infiltrate their power base."

"I have complete confidence in your deceptive abilities."

Jason gave him a dark look. "That's not what I meant. If this goes wrong I'm in the soup."

"I'm sorry. The soup?"

"Cooked. Done for. They'll hand me my head on a plate."

Wythe sighed heavily. "I thought you were experienced at this sort of thing," he said in a disappointed tone.

Jason's annoyed expression did not change. "_I am_. But deep cover requires a lot of planning. I usually have a team of others to watch my back, _and_ a way out if things go wrong. According to you, officially, I'm not even here. In fact, nobody even knows I am here!"

"My dear Ambassador Krystovan, you have my full support."

"You know something, Wythe. From where I'm standing, that's not all that reassuring." So saying, Jason hit the button, ending the transmission.

oOo

Fitzhugh was already on his feet. "Doctor, is it your contention that _all_ of the recordings from the _ARGO_ security logs are genuine?"

"It is," the Doctor replied guardedly.

"Isn't it possible that they're a fabrication?"

"A lie, you mean?"

The prosecutor smiled thinly. "Perhaps deception is a better term."

"In other words, Prince Jason forged these recordings."

"I couldn't've put it better myself," Fitzhugh replied smugly. It was a cheap shot but it had the desired affect. It enraged Jason.

Knowing the reaction this would provoke, the Doctor took a step back and held out a hand, catching the Alterran by the shoulder as he was rising to his feet and thrusting him back into his seat. He then went on as though nothing had happened. "What you're saying is that after perpetrating this heinous act, Prince Jason created these recordings to incriminate Cardinal Wythe and exonerate himself."

"Exactly."

The Doctor had not finished. "Then he completely forgot to mention said recordings to anyone after he was arrested, incarcerated, cut off from his family, stripped of his Ambassadorial rank, put under a psychiatric microscope, and finally charged with offenses that could very well get him executed!"

Eustis banged the gavel and gave opposing councils a reproving look. He then asked mildly, "Doctor, is there any way to authenticate these recordings?"

The Doctor was taken aback, uncertain how to respond. Jason rose to his feet but wisely waited for the Doctor to find out what he was going to say before replying. "My lord, the _ARGO_ is programmed to transmit my location and the corresponding encrypted security logs to Imperial security on Alterrous whenever I'm away from Tel-Shye," the Prince informed.

"How very convenient," Fitzhugh snorted. "Was this a recent security measure?" The piercing look Jason gave him in response made him flinch.

"No," the Alterran replied coldly. "It was implemented by the Emperor nearly eighteen years ago after I was kidnapped out of my own ship."

There were hushed whisperings among the spectators. The events surrounding the Prince's kidnapping were well known to those on the High Council.

"Is the prosecution satisfied with this explanation?" Eustis inquired evenly.

"For the moment," Fitzhugh replied, adding, "I will not object to the _ARGO _recordings being entered at this time under the provision that they are subject to verification. If they cannot be authenticated as being genuine, I ask that they be stricken from the record."

"I have no objection to this stipulation," the Doctor replied.

"So noted." Eustis replied.


	29. Enter The Benefactor

**CHAPTER 29**

**ENTER THE BENEFACTOR**

The Doctor took a sip of water before taking up his narrative. "As we've learned, at the time of the events in question, the man known as the Benefactor was also on Eldeberon." He paused, adding mockingly, "Lord Fitzhugh will be pleased to learn that this next recording is from the Matrix archive and not the _ARGO_ security logs."

oOo

**Mission Day 27**

Jason materialized in a large open field overlooking what appeared to be a large farm. He could see a barn, silos and a large, apparently well kept farmhouse in the distance. It was a picture perfect setting. Too perfect, in fact. The Prince had a tracking device in his hand and looked down at it. The reading was nearly off the scale. Looking up, he started towards the house. "Come on…come on… I know you're here somewhere," he muttered. He moved the tracker from side to side and it let out a loud squeal. He looked up, seeing that the farmhouse seemed to be what set the device off. He moved it away and then back to make certain. The scanner squealed again, growing louder as he pointed it directly at the house.

"May I help you?" a calm voice asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

Jason turned to see a tall man wearing an all-concealing hooded cloak literally coming out of one the silos. He passed straight through the wall and into the open,

"An impressive piece of camouflage," the Alterran observed without surprise. "I don't think I've seen a holo-projection used quite on this scale before. Been on Eldeberon long?"

"Judging from your lack of surprise and the device in your hand I can only conclude that you too are not native to this planet," the man replied mildly. He took in Jason's clothing, which seemed to mirror his own; the only difference being Jason's hood was down.

"No," the Prince replied mildly. "You might say I sort of dropped in."

"Indeed," came the delighted reply. "Mister…?"

"Krystovan. Jason Krystovan. Call me Jason."

"Jason. May I…?" The Benefactor held out a hand and Jason handed him the tracker.

"I picked up your energy signature when I…um, landed, shall we say."

The hooded man looked up from his examination of the scanner. "So, you're just as marooned as I," he observed. Holding out his hand, he invited his guest into what Jason would soon learn was the remains of his space ship. "The locals call me the Benefactor," he said as he led the way. "My own name is difficult even for these people to pronounce, so I am content with it."

"Do they know you're…um, marooned?" Jason wanted to know.

The Benefactor turned back to study his guest a moment. "Only a select few. My own appearance is much different from the people of this planet, hence my attire. The people here believe me to be from some local religious order, which has simplified matters considerably." He led the way up the steps and onto the farmhouse pouch. "This hologram conceals my ship," he said as he opened the front doors. Jason stepped inside what he could only assume had been a storeroom. The large open room had been converted into a living area and appeared quite comfortable. "Please, be seated," his host invited and he took a seat on a sofa.

The Benefactor poured out two glasses of wine. "Beyond this room is a small clinic that the locals have christened the Sanctuary," he said conversationally. "There are no medical facilities for several hundred miles, and my equipment is considerably more advanced than anything available on this planet."

"That's a little risky, isn't it?" Jason remarked, accepting the wine.

The Benefactor sank into an easy chair. "I'm very frugal with my secrets. The local doctors call it ancient hocus-pocus, but that doesn't stop them from consulting me whenever they need help with a difficult case."

"I've a feeling you're going to be getting a lot more than requests for medical consultation," Jason replied darkly. "And they won't be asking nicely."

"I don't understand. You believe the locals will have me evicted?" the man beneath the robes chortled. "After all these years?"

"No. Have you ever heard of the Glyateven?"

The Benefactor sat back, repeating the name. "No," he said at last. "I don't believe I have."

Jason drew a deep breath. He told his host of the Glyateven, the Triad, their plans to take over the planet and his efforts to rein in their more bloodthirsty tendencies.

"And have you been successful in reining them in?" the Benefactor asked mildly.

"To a limited degree. The Glyateven seem to like subterfuge, but haven't the patience or wit to devise their own plans," Jason replied unkindly. "That's why they wanted me in their advisory position. I've been throwing the most complicated stratagems I can think of at them. I managed to convince them that taking over the planet wasn't exactly feasible, considering they had no power base to work from. I directed their energies into their favorite subject, weapons production. That delayed them until they learned about hostile takeovers and acquired several manufacturing and distribution sites in a matter of weeks. They're quick studies if nothing else. And sad to say, there are no end of customers worldwide."

"Yes. The people of this planet have been at war or on the verge of war for decades. Centuries, in some cases," the Benefactor informed sadly. After a short pause, he asked pointedly, "May I ask why you've come to me with all this?"

"This is a little embarrassing, but…I was afraid you might've been helping them."

His host laughed at this. "Goodness, what a compliment! If I could do that I'd hardly be living in my ship in the middle of nowhere."

"No," Jason replied self-consciously. Then he smiled broadly. "At least yours it large enough to live in. I'm afraid I came down in an escape pod."

"Oh! Cramped, smelly, filthy little affairs!"

"And no dining facilities," the Prince joked. "This wine is excellent, by the way."

"Ah. Compliments of my neighbors. Many are poor farmers. They pay me what they can, usually in the most delicious ways!" The Benefactor finished his wine and got to his feet. "Would you like a small tour?" he asked happily. "Only the upper levels are livable. I haven't been to the lower levels in years."

Before Jason could reply, someone started pounding on the front door. This was followed by the sound of several voices calling out in an unintelligible chorus. "Perhaps they have come to evict you," the Alterran observed mildly as he pulled up his hood to conceal his face.

The Benefactor straightened, looking from his guest to the door. He opened it and a small group of people tumbled into the room. "Benefactor!" the man who had been pounding on the door cried. "Thank goodness you're still safe!"

"So it would appear," the robed man replied in bewilderment. He realized his unexpected guests had noticed his current similarly attired guest standing in the center of the room behind him. "Allow me to introduce a fellow member of my order. This is Brother—"

"Krystovan," Jason said quickly.

"Yes, Brother Krystovan." The Benefactor turned back to the group. "Now, what's all this about not being safe?"

The story burst forth about terrorist attacks in the cities, homes and businesses set ablaze in the local village. "It's war, Benefactor, you have to run before it's too late!" someone cried before the group left, continuing on their quest to warn as many as they could.

The Prince pulled back his hood and sank back into his chair. "My god, it's starting here," he said in a disbelieving whisper.

"Yes," the Benefactor said as he crossed the room. "Many of my neighbors are Trealt. The Veltatians lay claim to this area and have vowed an ethnic cleansing should they regain control."

Jason looked up, his eyes blazing with anger. His outrage came through in his voice as he said, "Ethnic cleansing, racial purity, genetic sanitization; it's all the same. An excuse to kill the dissimilar. A rationalization to commit…genocide."

The Benefactor nodded. "If what you say is true, then all my neighbors are going to die and there's nothing I can do about it, is there?"

"You haven't got a transmat, have you?" Jason jested.

"Yes, as it happens," his host replied startlingly. "Hasn't worked for ages, though."

A sparkle shown in Jason's eyes as an incredibly wild idea popped into his head. "If I can get it working again," he began slowly, "would you let me turn this place into a real Sanctuary?"

oOo

The extract ended and the Doctor paused, certain that someone would have a comment. To his amazement, the room was silent. He turned in astonishment to Jason, who whispered, "They're speechless." The Doctor nodded and decided to press on before Lord Fitzhugh realized there had been a break in the testimony.

oOo


	30. Dispersal Disks

**CHAPTER 30**

**DISPERSAL DISKS**

**Mission Day ****29**

Clip after clip from Eldeberon News services flashed across the screen; people screaming in the streets, buildings set ablaze, report after report of bombings and acts of violence. The picture pulled back, revealing Leaders ONE and TWO watching the reports on a television.

"Well, what do you say to that?" Leader TWO said proudly.

"Anarchy," Jason replied coldly from his place across the room. "You want to take control, but encourage chaos. When this is done, there'll be nothing to take control of."

TWO turned to him in annoyance. "Naturally _you_ have a better idea?" he said mockingly.

Jason pointed a remote control at the television and switched it off. "You have technology a hundred times better than what's available on this planet. And what do you do with it? You make weapons that blow things up!"

TWO opened his mouth to object but was stopped by ONE, who raised his hand. "Let him speak," he said calmly, more than a little intrigued. "What do you advise, THREE? You haven't led us astray yet."

Jason gave a small smile and held up a disk. "Why not add these to your inventory?" he asked mildly.

"A transmat disk?" ONE observed in bewilderment. "What good is that? The transmat was destroyed in the crash."

"Exactly. Anyway, it's less messy than rocket launched grenades," the Alterran replied, receiving a disgusted snort from TWO in reply. "And just think how quickly you'll corner the market when word gets out about a weapon capable of dispersing your enemy's molecules to the four corners of the universe?"

ONE's eyes lit up, the implications of this exploding in his mind. Power. Absolute power would be in his grasp.

As always, TWO was slower on the uptake and could not see the broader implications. "You think we'll strike terror into the hearts of these primitives with _that?_" he asked sarcastically.

"Think, TWO. With no receiver, it's a one-way ticket to oblivion. A death sentence. A means of _control_. Yes! We'll completely crush the competition," ONE replied, his eyes blazing with blind avarice. He took the device from Jason and turned it over in his hands. "But can they be manufactured in mass quantities? As you say, this planet's technology is limited."

"Fortunately, they've attained microchip technology," Jason replied mildly. He pointed the remote control in his hand and the television returned to life. "It's still crude, but you could probably build one using the parts from this."

"By the Goddess!" ONE exclaimed, slapping the Alterran on the back. "For someone who claims to be a pacifist, you have a devious mind, THREE."

Jason gave a small knowing smile but did not reply. He didn't know the half of it.

oOo

"Your highness, how long had you been on Eldeberon by this time?" the prosecutor asked calmly.

Jason thought a moment. "Twenty-nine days."

"Twenty-nine days," the prosecutor repeated darkly. "And in this short period of time, total anarchy had erupted around you. How much of this was your doing?"

"Objection," the Doctor snapped. "Prince Jason was not responsible for starting a civil war."

"But his highness _did_ tell the Benefactor that he was assisting the Triad, Doctor. I would like to know how." Fitzhugh gave a small smile as murmurs of agreement rose from the gallery.

"As would I. Objection overruled," Eustis replied firmly. He turned to the silent Alterran, commanding, "You will answer the question, your highness."

The Prince looked from one to the other. "I'm not sure I understand the question, my lord."

Fitzhugh smiled thinly. "You told the Benefactor that you were throwing the most complicated stratagems you could think of at the Triad. I wondered which of these stratagems we were witnessing in the news broadcasts?"

"None," Jason replied sharply, cutting the Doctor off before he could object a second time. "I was trying to avoid bloodshed," he added astringently.

"Would you give us an example of one of your strategies?" the prosecutor invited. He held out a hand grandly to take in the observers along with the Inquisitor.

Before replying, Jason turned and had a brief conversation with the Doctor. He straightened and turned back to face the court. "Shortly after my arrival, Leaders ONE and TWO decided that they needed better supplies than were being given out after the hurricane. They thought the best way of getting what they wanted was to break into the home of some unsuspecting person, kill everyone there, and loot the place."

"And what part of this was your plan?" Fitzhugh asked smugly.

Jason gave him a dark look, and to his credit, kept his temper in check. "My suggestion was that they take the technology at their disposal, use it to knock out the alarms and surveillance cameras in a local back and then use laser weapons to break into the vault. Performing this operation at night would give them plenty of time to carry out this plan without being interrupted. Afterward, they would have a ready supply of local currency, and no one would have to be killed in the process. I pointed out that humans put a higher value on life than material objects, and a crime of this type would be less likely to inflame the local population and give them time to establish their power base."

The prosecutor stood with his mouth open. Despite the fact that he was clearly impressed by this audacious scheme, he said, "You encouraged these men to commit armed robbery?"

"As a prosecutor, I would think you'd know the difference between robbery and burglary," Jason replied sarcastically. "I was encouraging them to do the latter. It was either that or stand by and let them commit cold blooded murder."

"Indeed. From what we've just seen it's obvious you wouldn't've wanted that," Fitzhugh replied, getting in a jab of his own.

"Objection," the Doctor snapped.

"Sustained," Eustis replied, adding sharply, "If we could dispense with the sarcasm, my lord prosecutor."

Unrepentant, Fitzhugh merely inclined his head. "I have no further questions."


	31. Further Delays

**CHAPTER 31**

**FURTHER DELAYS**

The Doctor was impressed that Jason successfully kept his temper throughout this heated exchange. He threw a disapproving scowl at opposing council before going on. "This next recording—taken from the _ARGO_ logs—was transmitted a few days after the Triad started distribution of the dispersal disks."

oOo

**Mission Day ****39**

The face of the imposter Wythe appeared on the _ARGO's_ main screen. "I told you only to contact me in an emergency," he scolded.

"Oh, well excuse me for pulling you out of a boring council meeting," Jason spat sarcastically. "I thought you might like to know there's another alien presence on Eldeberon."

"Another…? Surely not," the Cardinal replied dismissively.

"You think I don't know alien technology when I see it? I've been onboard what's left of his ship. He's using holo-technology to disguise it from the locals."

Wythe scowled back at him. "Is he involved with the Glyateven?"

"No, he's helping me," Jason replied, adding sharply, "And considerably better than you are, I might add!"

Wythe gave him a reproving scowl.

"He's fully aware of the risk he's taking," Jason went on.

"Poor compensation for him should the other members of the Triad find out."

"_Now_ he's sympathetic," the Alterran moaned, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. "Look, I don't see the problem. He's got this huge spaceship buried in the middle of nowhere. The only way to get there from the city is over some very broken down country lanes, or by transmat."

The Cardinal sat thoughtfully a moment. "Just who is this man? Where does he come from?"

"I don't know his real name. The locals call him the Benefactor. He crashed landed here several years ago, apparently. He's very tight lipped about his origins, and since I've pressed him into service, as it were, I'm not pushing for details."

"This…concerns me, Ambassador," Wythe observed. "Keep me informed."

oOo

The Doctor quickly continued with his narrative. If Fitzhugh wanted to ask any questions, he was going to have to interrupt. "It wasn't long after this that I arrived on Eldeberon. And as we've seen, my arrival did not go unnoticed by the Triad, which prompted this next transmission."

oOo

**Mission Day**** 44**

Before the man on the view screen could say a word, Jason exclaimed, "This is taking forever! Where's that extraction team?"

"Patience, Ambassador."

"That's easy for you to say, Wythe," Jason snapped angrily. "You're not the one with his back against the wall! There's a civil war raging where I am now. There are so many countries and factions going at it, I've lost track. And Tri Global is right in the thick of it. Do you know what the majority of them were in prison for? Arms dealing!" He threw his hand in the air. "What do they need me for? They've already got a built in advisory board."

The Time Lord chuckled. "Are you sure you're not just exaggerating?"

"No, I'm not. In less than a month, Tri Global has practically monopolized the arms market on this planet," the Prince replied tersely. "If that extraction team doesn't get here soon, they really will take over the world."

"I can see how that would be worrying."

"You don't know the half of it," the Alterran snorted. "And the Doctor's here somewhere, too. Did you send him?"

Wythe's eyes flickered. "No. When did he arrive?"

"A few days ago, if the Triad's intel is accurate."

"You'd be well advised to avoid him."

Jason could not believe what he was hearing. "Avoid him! Cardinal, he'd've spotted the alien nature of Tri Global's weapons in a heartbeat. His next step will be to come after Tri Global and then the Triad. I'm number three in the Triad. Just how do you suggest I avoid him?"

"How do you know all this?" the Cardinal wanted to know.

"Because that's what he does! I used to travel with him, for pity sake," the Prince replied in exasperation. "Now all I have to do is figure out how to find him before he finds me."

"For the Doctor's sake as well as your own, do not attempt contact."

"What!" Jason was appalled.

"You wanted to rein in the Triad, didn't you?" Wythe said calmly. "Well, this is your perfect opportunity. The Doctor will do all in his power to stop them, correct?"

"Yes…" came the hesitant reply.

"Then do what you can to allow that to happen from the inside."

"Cardinal," Jason said firmly, "you realize if I don't let the Doctor know why I'm here, he'll think I'm working against him. Or worse, that I've gone off the deep end."

"The deep end?"

The Alterran heaved an exasperated sigh. "He'll think I'm out to take over the planet like the rest of these nuts! Or worse, that I'm laying the groundwork for an invasion."

"In the short run, perhaps. You'll have plenty to time to straighten out any misunderstandings when the mission is over."

"I hope so. We're already on shaky ground as it is."

"It's in yours and the Doctor's best interest to create an illusion of enmity," Wythe advised. "If the others are as paranoid as you've already told me, they'll kill you both without compunction at the slightest hint of treachery."

"You're right. I could get him killed." Jason sank into a chair and put his head in his hands. "I think the strain is getting to me. I'm not thinking straight anymore."

A ghost of a smile passed the Time Lord's lips. "It won't be too much longer, I'm sure."

The transmission ended and Jason closed his eyes. "It's been too long already," he moaned.

oOo


	32. After The First Raid

**CHAPTER 32**

**AFTER THE FIRST RAID**

The Doctor waited a moment before he spoke, giving the assembled observers time to absorb what they had seen. "It was shortly after this that Telvec's group made their failed raid on Tri Global's headquarters."

"Was this the same raid in which his highness shot you without provocation, Doctor?" the prosecutor injected coolly

To his surprise, the Doctor replied, "It was."

"That got his attention," Jason observed quietly, bringing a grin to his friend's face.

"My lord, at the time the prosecution took my testimony," the Doctor said calmly, "it was my belief that, after I was shot, I was immediately transported to the Sanctuary. Since that was my next conscious memory. I am forced to admit that that was not, in fact, accurate."

Fitzhugh made a strangled noise and the Doctor waited for the question he knew would be coming. He was not disappointed. "Doctor, are you telling this court that your previous testimony was false?"

"No. I'm saying it was wrong."

"I do not see the difference."

"Nor I," the equally confused Eustis chimed in.

"My previous testimony was based on the facts as I knew them at the time," the Doctor said in clarification. "I've since learned that I was in error. Following the instructions of his mission coordinator, Prince Jason created the illusion of enmity and staged the entire incident," he announced grandly as he pressed the button on the console. "These events occurred shortly after my apparent murder."

oOo

**Mission Day ****46**

No one had dared speak to Leader THREE after what happened in the penthouse earlier in the evening. Even the usually bombastic ONE and TWO had kept their distance. No longer considered simply an adviser, his recent act of violence had cemented his place as an equal member of the hierarchy and a man not to be taken lightly.

Jason strode through the corridors of Tri Global headquarters, watching with amusement as the staff scuttled out of his way. He could hear the furtive whispers as he passed, his confrontation with the Doctor passing from person to person, the details embellished with each telling. _It'll be an Earth style old west shootout by the day's end_, he thought amusedly, imagining himself standing on a dusty street, hand poised, ready to draw his revolver and fire. The truth was far less romantic he reflected as he entered his stateroom and crossed to the communication terminal.

"Security," a bored operated responded. He did not even bother to look at the screen, seeming more interested in the magazine in front of him. "What's you authorization number?"

"Three," Jason snapped coldly, watching in amusement as the operator practically fell from his chair in an attempt to come to attention.

"Yes, sir! Sorry, sir."

"There's a blue box somewhere in the city," the Leader informed. "The exact description will be transmitted shortly. Recent intelligence indicates that it's being used to hide a supply of weapons and high-grade explosives. I'm going to be away for the next four days touring the competitions' operations. I want that box found before I return. THREE out."

"That's the TARDIS taken care of," Jason muttered, adding with a chuckle, "By the time that story gets out, two-thirds of the city will be out looking for the old girl." He pulled out a recall disk and squeezed it between his fingers. A split second later, he was on the flight deck of the _ARGO_, which was hidden some distance from Tri Global's headquarters. Unlike the transmat in the Sanctuary, Jason had programmed the _ARGO_ to respond only to the signals from his recall disk, thus elevating the possibility of any wayward refugees landing on his own doorstep.

Jason pocketed the disk and turned, his gaze falling on the lights of the Med-computer blinking in the darkness of the sickbay. "Computer, lights," he commanded as he crossed to the flashing panel. He scanned the displays and then looked through the observation port at the motionless occupant, a small smile coming to his face.

"Hello, Doctor," he said softly.

oOo

"After my arrival on the _ARGO_," the Doctor informed, "Prince Jason repaired my heart in what I can only say is the most extraordinary, if unconventional, piece of surgery I have ever witnessed."

"Just the facts, please," the prosecutor sighed in a bored tone.

The Doctor gave him a dark look. "Well, what would you call localized regeneration?"

"Localized regeneration? I've never heard of it."

The Doctor stepped aside and held out a hand to the console in front of him. "Your highness, if you'd do the honors?"

The Alterran went to the controls and the Doctor watched in some amusement as he switched into "Healer mode." His voice became completely professional and businesslike as the extract jumped from section to section. "While keeping the Doctor's body in stasis, I sectioned off the injured area, removed the damaged tissue and then allowed only the small portion of his anatomy that was damaged to return to real time. Within seconds of doing that, the muscle regenerated. As you can see, a new heart has formed where the damaged one once was."

"That's remarkable," Fitzhugh muttered in awe.

Jason accepted the praise with a small smile and nod of the head before going on. "I then repaired the additional damage caused by the bullet. At the time, I was worried the Doctor still might regenerate prematurely, so after the surgery I had the computer shut down the stasis field incrementally to alleviate the possibility of that happening."

When no questions were asked, Jason returned to the prisoner's dock and the Doctor returned to the controls. "Thank you, your highness," he said, his tone of voice carrying more meaning than a simple show of courtesy. "It was after this and while I was still unconscious that I was transported to the Sanctuary."

"Why?" Fitzhugh asked pointedly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Why transport you anywhere?" the prosecutor asked, turning to address the Prince. "Your highness, what was your reasoning behind this elaborate charade?"

"Didn't we cover this already?" Jason replied frostily.

"I'm not entirely clear on why you chose to shoot the Doctor?"

"I did it to save his life."

Fitzhugh gave a small laugh. "Then I hope never to have occasion to have you save me," he remarked, turning as if to take a bow for this remark.

Jason drew a deep breath and fought the urge to reply, "Don't worry, you won't." Instead, he simply glared at the man across the room.

"Isn't it a fact that you staged this incident simply as a means of bolstering your position in the Triad?" the prosecutor asked.

"That was a by-product, not my intent."

"Your intent was to save the Doctor by very nearly costing him his life, is that what you would have us believe? Did it never occur to you that _you_ might trigger a regeneration?"

"My lord prosecutor, at the time I stated that if the Doctor were shot, he would regenerate and that I knew how to stop that happening. That was the literal truth, as you've just seen."

"Are we to believe that this was due to skill and not just luck?" Fitzhugh asked condescendingly.

The Doctor saw outrage flash in Jason's eyes. He had never been one to take lightly having even the most basic of his extraordinary skills brought into question. This time, the Time Lord chose not to intervene, thinking the prosecutor needed to be put in his place. It might also do him some good to see exactly who and what he was up against.

"Luck?" The Alterran Healer drew himself to his full height. "In the past three centuries, I've spent more than thirty years on Gallifrey studying Time Lord physiology and Gallifreyan medical techniques," he stated proudly. "I've been the leading authority on the subject on Tel-Shye for the past two centuries. If _I_ can't stop a premature regeneration, no one can."

There were murmurs from the gallery in response to this and Fitzhugh cleared his throat nervously, choosing a different tact. "So, you chose to save the Doctor while sacrificing those who were with him," he stated bluntly. The Prince stiffened upon hearing this, the arrow finding its mark. This was exactly what he had done. "If, as you say, you wanted to save the Doctor from certain death, weren't you sending those who had accompanied him to their certain deaths?"

To the amazement of all save the Doctor, Jason replied, "Yes."

"Why not save all of them? Why, as the Doctor asked, spare him alone?"

Jason paused, choosing his words carefully. "I'd seen the group the others left outside and hoped they'd be able to intervene before the entire group was killed, which, thankfully, they did. I singled out the Doctor because I didn't want to risk his being killed before the others could stop it." He threw a quick glance in his friend's direction before saying, "He's too important."

"Indeed." the prosecutor said sarcastically. "Yet, after you'd whisked him out of harms way, you then sent him to the Sanctuary. Why send him anywhere at all? Why not just keep him safe and sound in your sickbay?" he asked logically.

There was an even longer silence and the Inquisitor exchanged a questioning look with the Doctor, who held up a hand. He already knew the answer and the reasons behind it. He also knew how difficult the decision had been for his friend to make.

Jason's answer finally came in a subdued tone. "Because…if I failed, I knew, of all people, _he_ would be able to stop the Glyateven from destroying the planet."

"But that didn't happen, did it, your highness?"

The Prince closed his eyes, the destruction of the planet returning vividly to mind. "No."

"Was it by your failure? Or by design?" Fitzhugh asked savagely.

"Objection!" the Doctor snapped.

Fitzhugh gave a small smile and waved a hand. "Withdrawn. No further questions."

Eustis gave opposing councils a reproving look before saying, "Proceed."


	33. Safe Harbor

**CHAPTER 33**

**SAFE HARBOR**

The Doctor turned to the screen. "I'd like to note that while these recordings are of events onboard the _ARGO_, they come from the Matrix archive. When compared to the _ARGO_ security log, the two were absolutely identical."

Eustis looked up sharply, exchanging an astonished look with the equally amazed Fitzhugh. "When was this comparison made?" he demanded.

"Early this morning," the Doctor replied unrepentantly and smiled unabashedly at the Inquisitor. "I wanted to satisfy my own curiosity at the time." Eustis was not amused and gave him a disapproving scowl. Behind him, the Doctor heard Jason stifle a laugh. "This recording," he went on, "was made shortly after Prince Jason completed the surgery that saved my life."

oOo

**Mission Day ****47**

Jason was standing motionless before the recovery cabinet, his eyes glued to the monitors. The Doctor had come through the surgery with flying colors but was still in very critical condition. The Healer had no doubt that he would make a full recovery. He also had no doubt that his friend was going to be absolutely furious with him when he finally woke up. Considering the alternative, Jason felt he could handle the Time Lord's wrath.

**"Incoming secure transmission,"** the computer announced suddenly.

"Don't tell me there's been another delay," Jason moaned. He crossed to the command deck and hit the switch. Wythe's face appeared on the screen. "I have good news for you, Ambassador," he said happily. "The extraction ships are in your sector and will rendezvous with you within the week."

Despite the fact that this was the very news he had been hoping for, Jason suddenly felt completely drained. "Great," he replied dully.

"I thought you'd be pleased."

"Oh yeah, I'm ecstatic. Can't you tell?"

Wythe sighed heavily. "What's happened now?"

The High Councilor's condescending tone set the Alterran off. "I destroyed a friendship today, that's what's happened," he snapped angrily.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I shot the Doctor!" Jason exploded, adding in a sarcastic tone, "But you were right! I'm in thick as thieves with the Triad now. They can't get enough of me."

The man on the screen sat in a stunned silence. "Are you telling me that you actually killed the Doctor?"

"_No!_ But everybody thinks I did." Jason sighed heavily and sank into a chair.

"I suppose that's a good thing," the Cardinal replied mildly. "May I ask why you chose such a drastic course of action?"

"You're the one who said I should create an illusion of enmity," Jason reminded coldly. "I did it to save his life, if you can believe it."

"I'm not sure I even understand it."

"He was with a group that stormed the building last night. The Triad was going to have them all shot. I told them if they did that he'd just regenerate and be back in their hair again."

The Cardinal raised his eyebrows. "Now, that I do understand."

"I don't think even a Time Lord could survive getting shot with the weapons they're using. I was sure he'd die if I let them take him out with the others." Jason ran his fingers through his hair and laughed at the irony of the situation. "The worst part is, I needn't've bothered. The group outside rescued the others before the guards had a chance to fire a shot!"

"You did what you thought best at the time," Wythe replied sagely.

"If that's supposed to make me feel better, it doesn't," the Prince snapped angrily. "I should've pulled out when I had the chance."

"No, you mustn't abandon the mission. That could have disastrous repercussions!"

"It already has!" Jason snarled, slamming his fist on the console and ending the transmission. He rose to his feet and crossed back to the recovery cabinet. He looked in on the Doctor's pale form and leaned his forehead against the observation window, as if to get as close as possible to his unconscious friend. "Why did they have to come now?" he asked in an annoyed tone. "They couldn't've waited until after you woke up, could they?" Drawing a deep breath, the Prince straightened. "Computer, how much time is remaining on the shut down of the stasis field?"

**"Six hours, four minutes,"** the computer replied.

"And the estimated time after that before the Doctor regains consciousness?"

**"Given current parameters, twelve to eighteen hours."**

"Good. I'm not due back for another—" Jason broke off when the computer suddenly announced, **"Incoming transmission. Audio only."**

The Prince scowled. "Acknowledge transmission," he ordered. There was a beep in response to this order. In a calm voice, he said, "Krystovan."

"Kryss, you're alright!" a female voice responded happily. "When you didn't come last night, we were afraid you'd been…well, you know."

Jason cursed under his breath, having completely forgotten about his rendezvous with a group supplying aid to the hundreds of refugees throughout the city. He threw a quick glance at the recovery cabinet beside him before replying, "I'm sorry about that, Becky. A friend of mine was nearly killed last night. I completely forgot about the meeting."

"No explanation needed, Kryss," Becky said quickly. "You take all the time you need."

"Are you still in the same sector?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll meet you tonight," Jason promised.

"What about your friend?" came the concerned inquiry.

Again, Jason threw a concerned look at the motionless figure within the recovery cabinet. "Don't worry. I have someone who can look after him while I'm away. Krystovan out."

The Alterran drew a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair. "I am never doing a one man operation again," he growled and then ordered, "Computer, contact the Sanctuary."

**"Acknowledged,"** the computer replied. A minute later, it said, **"No response."**

Jason frowned. "Continue to hail. Let me know when you get a reply."

**"Acknowledged."**

The lights on the Med-computer started flashing and the Alterran Healer turned his full attention to it. He made an entry into the computer, smiling as the readings changed, showing an improvement in the Time Lord's status. "How do you do it, Doctor?" he asked conversationally as he looked in at his unconscious friend. "Alone and clueless, you can save the universe. And you make it look so easy!"

The computer announced, **"Incoming response to hail."**

Jason looked up, crossing back to flight deck. He smiled when he saw the Benefactor's robed figure on the screen. "There you are! I was afraid something had happened," he sighed relievedly. "Is everything alright out there? No mini-wars breaking out?"

"None as yet," the Benefactor replied mildly. "The terms of the truce you proposed were agreed to by all sides. You should've been a diplomat."

Jason smiled inwardly at this observation. "You must be getting pretty crowded."

"With the help of some rather skilled craftspeople, we've been able to open another level," the Benefactor informed proudly.

"That's great," Jason replied happily. "Has Marcus been in touch with you?"

"Yes. We've already worked out a supply schedule. No one will go hungry. You've been very busy, Jason."

The Prince gave a tired smile. He didn't know the half of it. "I need a favor, if I haven't used them all up already."

"Nonsense. I must confess, I'm finding this all quite exhilarating," came the happy reply.

"I'm going to be sending someone over to you in a few hours. He has a serious chest wound and will need close medical attention."

"Is that all?" the Benefactor laughed. "We have injured people arriving hourly."

"This man—the Doctor—is a very close friend of mine, Benefactor," Jason stated bluntly. "He thinks I'm working against him right now and he's in no condition for me to dissuade otherwise. I want him kept safe until I have time to straighten out this mess."

The robed man cocked his head to one side. "I'm not sure I understand you correctly. Am I to allow him to continue to believe you're his enemy?"

"No. I _want_ you to tell him I sent him intentionally," the Alterran replied quickly. "I'm sure he'll understand my reasoning, he just won't be too pleased with its implementation. Just keep him safe for me until I can come talk to him. And no matter what he says, do not, under any circumstances, let him leave the Sanctuary to come after me."

"No one leaves the Sanctuary," the Benefactor pointed out. "You made the rule yourself."

"You don't know the Doctor the way I do, Benefactor. He's a master at breaking rules."

"I shall do my best."

oOo


	34. Fill In The Gap

**CHAPTER 34**

**FILL IN THE GAP**

The Doctor could see the prosecutor was dying to speak and looked expectantly over at him. "Questions, remarks, insights?" he asked brightly. Apparently sensing a trap, Fitzhugh chose not to rise to the bait, much to the Doctor's disappointment.

"As we've seen," the Doctor went on, "I later learned the Benefactor was working for both sides. Not only did he keep the fact that Prince Jason intentionally sent me to him but within a day of my arrival, he was making plans with the Triad for my return to the city."

The Doctor smiled inwardly as the prosecutor got to his feet. The bait had finally been taken. It was all too obvious the prosecutor was trying to score points with the assembled High Council members and was using every opportunity to do so. This time, however, he played right into the Doctor's hands.

"Plots upon plots," Fitzhugh remarked theatrically. "Intrigue upon intrigue. Tell us, your highness, what were you doing during all this subterfuge? What did you do after your rendezvous with this Becky? There's a gap of two days from the Doctor's arrival at the Sanctuary to his return to Tri Global headquarters."

"I thought he'd never ask," the Doctor said under his breath. He exchanged a conspiratorial look with Jason, who fought to keep from smiling as he got to his feet.

"Once the Doctor was completely out of stasis, I sent him to the Sanctuary," the Prince said calmly, "I was also able to locate the TARDIS by tracing its artron signature and transport it to my ship's hold."

"To prevent the Doctor from leaving?"

"To prevent its being made off with." Seeing the blank expression on the Time Lord's face, Jason said, "I didn't want it to get stolen. There was looting in all sections of the city by this time. And then there was the fact that I'd broadcast that it contained weapons. Every spy in the city would've been trying to get their hands on them. It was at that point that my ship's computer alerted me to the transmission traffic between the Sanctuary and Tri Global. I can only assume now that it was the Benefactor contacting the Triad to alert them to the Doctor's arrival. After that, I returned to the city for my rendezvous with Becky and her aid group."

"And after that?" Fitzhugh practically demanded. "What did you do for the next two days?"

Jason turned to the Doctor, who said, "Among other things, he did what he was trained to do. Heal the sick." So saying, he turned everyone's attention to the screen.

oOo

**Mission Day ****49**

The image was of a tunnel full of refugees not unlike the one Philip had taken the Doctor to after his arrival. There were several fires burning along the street in a vain attempt to ward off the cold of the approaching winter. A robed figure moved from person to person, dispensing food and medicine from a large sack as he went. Suddenly a boy was pulling at his arm, begging him for help. "Please, Brother, please! My mommy's dying!"

"We're all dying, boy," an old man cackled.

The robed man ignored this remark and turned to the child. "Where's your mother?" he asked gently, following the boy to a large cardboard box. He could hear a woman moaning, but when he looked inside, he knew it was not because she was dying. The woman on the mattress inside the box was in labor.

The Brother dropped his sack and was inside on his knees in an instant. He put a hand on the woman's rounded abdomen and turned back to a small crowd that was gathering outside. "I need more light! Somebody get some torches over here. Quickly!" he commanded. He looked back, seeing the woman's terrified face. "Don't worry. I've delivered dozens of babies. You're going to be fine." He pushed the hood back to get it out of his way, revealing his face.

Between her moans, the woman said, "Thank you, Brother..."

"Krystovan," Jason replied before calling for light yet again.

o

The image suddenly changed to another part of the city. Jason was walking through the streets, the hood pulled back from his face. He stopped and talked to as many as he could about the insanity raging around them. Snow was falling gently from the sky and he stopped to look up at it, his thoughts going to the beautiful, healthy infant he had just delivered.

He entered a building that looked as though it might at one time have been a school. He had been told it was a field hospital. There were dozens of injured people within and precious little medial staff to aid them. The only advantage here was that the building still had heat.

"If you've come to pray for our sins, Brother," a gruff voice said from behind him, "don't bother. Nobody's prayers get answered here."

Jason turned to see a short, balding man looking challengingly up at him. He was wearing a tattered blue lab coat and had a stethoscope slung over his neck. He was dressed so stereotypically as a physician that the Alterran almost laughed. He gave the man his most disarming smile. "That depends on what you've been praying for," he replied mildly. "I'm a surgeon."

o

The image changed again, this time finding the Alterran in a morgue. It could have been one of dozens all over the city. He was still dressed in his monk's robes, his face again concealed beneath the hood. There was no heat in this place, and the icy cold from outside had crept into every crack. Jason's breath rose like smoke as he moved around the room. He took in the desolation caused by prejudice and blind hatred and was both sickened and enraged by it.

He noticed that the room was strangely quiet. Every so often a new arrival would be brought in and placed among the others, and even this was done with a quiet reverence. At least in death these people could find peace.

The body of a man was brought in and Jason scowled when he noticed there wasn't a mark on him. He crossed silently to the litter bearers as they were putting him on a slab. "Excuse me," he said softly. Despite keeping his voice low, he still made the men jump. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," he said mildly. "I'm still among the living."

"Sorry, Brother. We thought Benji'd come back from the dead again," the first man said, pulling off his hat as he spoke. He quickly ran his fingers through his hair in a vain effort to make himself presentable. He was a stocky man who seemed no stranger to physical labor and looked considerably older than his twenty-something years of age. The raging war seemed to have aged everyone beyond their years, Jason reflected sadly.

"Again?" he repeated. "Mister…?"

The man gave him a toothy grin. "I'm no mister, Brother. Just call me Pete." He jerked a thumb in his partner's direction. "He's Tim." He leaned close, saying as though it were a secret, "He don't talk no more."

Jason nodded conspiratorially, throwing a quick glance over at the silent Tim. He seemed just a boy, sixteen at the most. Another person aged beyond his years. "What did you mean come back from the dead again, Pete?" he asked, turning back to face him.

"Oh! This here's Benji." Pete held a hand out as if he were making a formal introduction. "Benji got himself dispersed a few weeks back." He put his hat over his heart and held up his other hand as if he were swearing an oath. "That's the God's honest truth, Brother!"

"I believe you, Pete," Jason replied mildly. "Did you see him get…dispersed?"

"Yeah, we was all there, wasn't we, Tim? Me, Tim, Benji and some of the guys from the neighborhood. We was hidin' out in this house. The bad guys—I don't know whose side they was on, 'cause I ain't on no side, see?—Well, anyway, we seen the bad guys comin' up the street so we all hid. But Benji got scared and ran."

The image of the confrontation was so vivid Jason could see it happening as the man spoke. Benji was captured, pushed around by the bullies with guns, and then had a dispersal disk slapped on him. This incident apparently occurred just after the dispersal disks went into production, so the technology was totally new and totally terrifying. Benji had vanished into thin air and, as far a Pete was concerned, was dead. Jason, however, knew better. Benji should have gone straight to the Sanctuary. More importantly, he should've still been there, not lying dead on a slab back where he started.

Jason came back to reality when he realized Pete had stopped talking and was looking at him in bewilderment. "I'm sorry, Pete," the Alterran said mildly. "As you can imagine, I find this very distressing. You and Tim carry on with your job. I'll look after Benji for you."

"Bless you, Brother," Pete said gratefully. Then to Jason's embarrassment, the man dropped to one knee and kissed his ring. It was the signet ring of the Royal House of Krystovan, not that Pete would have known any different. Then he quickly replaced his hat and scuttled off, taking the silent Tim with him.

"I have got to find a better disguise," Jason muttered in exasperation. He looked at the ornate sapphire ring on his right hand and shook his head before turning his attention back to the late Benji. He pulled back his hood and sat down to get a better look at the body. With a single touch, he discovered three things. First, Benji had died of a heart attack. Second, it seemed to have been caused by a faulty pacemaker. Third, the power source shouldn't exist on Eldeberon.

Jason examined the man's chest, finding no surgical scars that would suggest the device's implantation. Nor had he detected any defect that would have required it in the first place. His curiosity fully piqued, he retrieved some instruments from the coroner's supply and opened the man's chest and removed the offending device.

A sudden thought struck him and he looked around the room. "Were you the only one to leave the Sanctuary, Benji?" Jason asked, reaching out to touch another body. No, this man died from a shrapnel wound. The next was similar injury, and the next, and the next. He was about to give up when he found another heart attack. Another alien pacemaker.

By the time he had gone through the entire room, Jason had discovered some thirty-four alien pacemakers. He had also been able to verify that they came from individuals who were supposed to have been dispersed. At first, he was angry at the thought that someone in the Sanctuary would be doing this. Then he wondered if the Glyateven had penetrated his safe haven and were sabotaging it from the inside. His ship had already picked up transmission traffic. Was it from a spy? It was only then that Jason had the most horrifying thought of all. He'd sent the Doctor to the Sanctuary to be safe but instead he may have inadvertently sent him to his death.

oOo


	35. Walking Into A Trap

**CHAPTER 35**

**WALKING INTO A TRAP**

As he watched the events unfolding on the screen the Doctor could not help but wonder if he were making any progress or if the observers were just getting caught up in the intrigue.

When the extract ended, he brought up the lights. "My lord," he said politely, "I apologize for the interruption, but my throat is getting sore and I've run out of water. Perhaps if we could have a brief recess?"

The Inquisitor's eyes flashed to the tray beside the Doctor. The pitcher was indeed empty, as was the one beside Prince Jason. He consulted the timepiece on the corner of his desk. "We are very close to the meal hour," Eustis observed. "Instead of a recess, we'll adjourn for the meal break." With a tap of the gavel, court was adjourned for an hour and a half. Eustis floated from the room and back to his chambers.

Jason watched the activity in the room in some amusement. The observers in the gallery broke into smaller groups, some leaving, others remaining, all discussing the various aspects of the evidence. A bailiff came over and replaced the water pitchers. Behind him was Captain Reinhardt, who escorted the Doctor and Jason to the side room.

Feeling emotionally drained already, Jason dropped into a chair and stretched out, closing his eyes and heaving a heavy sigh. When he opened his eyes, he saw the Doctor studying him curiously. "Now what?" he asked pointedly. "You're not going to scold me about not wanting to be called 'the accused' all the time, are you? Or for putting that parvenu Fitzhugh in his place. Luck indeed!" he snorted.

"I wouldn't dream of it," the Doctor grinned, taking a seat. Despite his status, it wasn't often that Jason allowed his aristocratic side to show, and the Time Lord found his current indignation amusing. "Actually, I was wondering if you'd had any thoughts on who would go to such extraordinary lengths to organize all this?"

"I haven't exactly had time to think about it," Jason replied truthfully. He thought a moment, his eyes focused in the distance. "Except—No, it's too crazy."

"At this point, how can you tell?" the Doctor replied only half-joking. "Except what?"

"What if…" Looking up, Jason said, "What if all that stuff with the Benefactor was…well, secondary? What if I really _was_ sent on a suicide mission? What if the extraction team was supposed to take me with them the way they tried to do you? _And _what if they were destroyed so that no one would ever learn what happened to me?"

"That's a lot of 'what ifs.'" The Doctor sat back, turning the theory over in his mind. "Oddly enough, put together, they actually make sense."

"That doesn't get us any closer to figuring out who's behind it, though, does it?" Jason remarked.

"No. But perhaps it gives us a place to start."

* * *

The break was much too short, as far as Jason was concerned. Before he knew it, he was back in the prisoner's dock listening as the Doctor gave his narrative once again. "I returned to the city at approximately the same time Prince Jason returned to the Tri Global's headquarters. Ironically, the trip required that we both cross through Founder's Park. I returned to find a second raid in progress, while Prince Jason walked into a trap."

oOo

**Mission Day ****50**

The Doctor was standing in the playground, looking in annoyance at the empty spot where the TARDIS once stood. He heard the sound of footsteps crunching in the snow and took refuge in the trees. This section of the park seemed to be a shortcut for many, for which he was grateful. Otherwise this individual would have seen his solitary set of tracks in the snow.

To the Doctor's bewilderment, a man dressed in monk's robes walked past and he wondered if the Benefactor had also come to the city. The car that had dropped him off was still in the street near the playground and the driver leaned out and called, "Brother, do you need a lift somewhere?"

"That's very generous of you," the Brother replied urbanely.

The Doctor found himself relaxing when he heard the voice, it wasn't the Benefactor's. This man obviously was a real member of the local religious order. He watched as the Brother got into the car and did not come out of hiding until the vehicle had driven away. He turned to continue his journey, completely unaware of the fact that he had just watched Jason pass by in disguise.

o

Night was already falling by the time Jason arrived at the Tri Global building. He changed back into his green coveralls before entering and went directly to the penthouse, finding it empty, which suited him just fine. He crossed to the computer to learn what had been going on in his absence. To his horror, he discovered the memory of the entire computer network had been wiped shortly before his arrival. Wondering what the implications of this might be, he wandered aimlessly around the room, lost in thought. He was near the center of the room when ONE and TWO entered.

"Was your tour of the competitions' operations productive, THREE?" ONE asked calmly.

"Moderately so," Jason replied blandly. "As I suspected, they're markedly inferior to—" He broke off when he saw several distant flashes in the fast darkening sky. "Now what?"

"One of the factions is attacking a storage facility," ONE informed matter of factly.

"You don't seem too surprised."

"These creatures are fleas, nothing more," TWO snorted derisively. "Not worthy even to be called an adversary."

"Unlike yourself," ONE added coldly.

Jason turned back to face him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sanctuary," ONE replied, smiling at the appalled look this single word produced.

"Don't even bother denying it, you lying alien scum," TWO snarled, plunging a knife into the unprepared Alterran's side.

At first, Jason thought he'd been punched. It wasn't until he looked down and saw the handle protruding from his body that he realized he'd been stabbed. He looked at his attacker in shock, his eyes wide. His legs gave way and he sank to the floor, the blade still in his side. He expected to be stabbed again, which had been the original plan until the Benefactor changed the scenario. To Jason's amazement, he saw TWO reaching for the laser pistol in his belt.

What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion.

As TWO pulled his weapon, ONE drew one of his own. The two shouted various insults at one another, firing at the same instant. The shots struck home, burning a gaping hole into their chests, killing them instantly. Their bodies hit the floor at almost the same instant.

Not quite believing what had just happened, Jason lay on the floor staring at the ceiling in shock. He closed his eyes in pain, a hand going to his side. Then he heard the sound of running feet. With luck, it would be security.

Telvec and his followers burst into the room and stopped short. Jason heard someone ask, "What the hell happened in here?" and another reply; "I think someone beat us to it." The next thing he knew, the Doctor was beside him. He looked at him in shock, wondering how the hell he had managed to talk himself out of the Sanctuary and back to the city. Then he heard himself saying, "They killed each other. And I think they've killed me, too."

oOo

Before the Doctor could even ask, Fitzhugh spoke up, "After you were attacked, your highness, you transported yourself to the _ARGO_. Was it your intention to take the Doctor with you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because…" Jason drew a deep breath. "I thought I was going to die. That's why I gave him command authorization."

"Really? Yet within minutes of your arrival, a preprogrammed sequence went into effect that prevented this happening. Surely you knew what your ship was capable of."

"I've never had to rely on the ship's medical computer alone," Jason replied firmly. "I didn't know if it could handle the extensive repairs I needed without outside direction."

"But if successful, you were aware that it would, in effect, fake your own death?"

"Yes."

"Why did you go to such extraordinary lengths to make the outside world believe you were dead?" Fitzhugh wanted to know.

"I didn't trust the Glyateven," Jason replied, much to bewilderment of his listeners.

The prosecutor scowled. "Could you expand on that?"

Jason exchanged a quick glance with the Doctor before replying. "My research into the Glyateven indicated they weren't the type to ask for outside assistance. In fact, they were of the opinion that they never made mistakes, and here I was in the middle of the biggest mistake possible." He took a sip of water before continuing. "As a back-up plan, I recorded the message and programmed the computer to revive me forty hours after the extraction team left orbit, just in case someone decided I was expendable. That's the reason I bounced all my transmissions off of the planet's communication satellites. It made the position of the _ARGO_ untraceable."

"I applaud your attention to detail," Fitzhugh replied, adding in a condescending tone, "However excessive, or dare I say, paranoid."

"Objection!" the Doctor cried the same instant Eustis exclaimed, "Lord Fitzhugh!"

They were both silenced when Jason angrily snapped, "My paranoid obsession to detail is the very thing that saved the Doctor from being turned into a grease spot on the floor of my flight deck!" This harsh rebuke was followed by a stunned silence.

Eustis cleared his throat nervously. "Shall we proceed, my lords?"


	36. Trust Me

**CHAPTER 36**

**TRUST ME**

The Prince stood glaring at Fitzhugh a moment before returning to his seat. The Doctor threw a concerned look in his direction before going on. As way of reminder, he gave a quick outline of the events that followed the attempt on Jason's life; the return to the _ARGO_, Jason's apparent death, the appearance of the Glyateven Fleet, its subsequent destruction, Jason's resurrection, the Doctor's own discovery of the Benefactor's duplicity and his subsequent return to the Sanctuary.

On the screen, the image of the Doctor's capture flashed past, followed by Jason's apparent second attack when he secured the Time Lord to the wall, and then his confrontation with Justin. When Jason crossed to the computer and began searching in the folds of his original disguise, the Doctor froze the image and then zoomed in closer.

"Because he had his back to me at the time," the Doctor stated, "I couldn't see what Prince Jason was doing. All I could tell was that he swallowed something." The extract shuttled forward frame by frame, freezing when the Prince pulled a small tablet from a heavy looking, lead-lined pillbox. "Your highness, would you explain what you're doing here?" he requested.

Jason nodded and stated blandly, "The pill is called a converter. It's a tiny grain of a radioactive isotope suspended in a gelatin capsule. Upon ingestion, it initiates a conversion rush."

"Conversion rush?" Eustis asked. It was obvious from his tone and the blank expression on his face that he was at a complete loss.

Seeing this, Jason gave the Doctor a long-suffering look, closed his eyes and told himself not to lose his patience. Despite the fact that the Time Lords and Alterrans had been allies for millennia, it was becoming glaringly obvious that the inhabitants of Gallifrey were woefully ignorant when it came to their shape changing allies.

"A conversion rush is a highly dangerous state caused when an enormous influx of radiation is immediately converted into energy," the Alterran informed, sounding more like he were lecturing a class than testifying. "It can be equated with an adrenaline high compounded with an enormous dose of amphetamines. It's also just as dangerous. If the energy isn't utilized at once, one runs the risk of burning out completely. In rare cases, death has occurred."

"Your highness," the startled Fitzhugh injected, looking from the screen to the Alterran and back, "are you telling this court that you took this substance prior to…physically assaulting the Doctor?"

"I took the substance, yes," Jason replied, being careful not to admit to assaulting the Doctor, despite the fact that this is exactly what he had done, however unintentionally.

The Doctor shuttled the extract forward, reversing the angle from previously. This time, Jason's face would be clearly visible. Then the outside corridor appeared in a split screen image. "I didn't know it at the time, but another man came to the door after Justin was ordered away. If you watch Prince Jason closely, you'll see something I didn't. He reacts when this man arrives."

oOo

**Mission Day ****53**

"If you're not he Benefactor, what're you doing here?" the Doctor demanded.

The Alterran was idly twisting a piece of cloth through his fingers as he turned back to face him. "I should think that was obvious," he replied in a slightly annoyed tone.

"You followed me."

"Yes."

"How? And don't say in the transmat. How did you know exactly where I was?"

Jason gave a small smile. "That would be telling."

The Doctor pulled against his bindings in frustration, a growl rising in his throat. "More deception? Just how much of this is real? Where does deception end and reality begin?"

"Are you saying deception isn't reality?" the Alterran said as he slowly crossed the room. "Maybe some things are more real than others."

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"Do you really want me to spell it out?" Jason said in a slightly surprised tone. "Okay, my hatred isn't real. My anger, feelings of betrayal, mistrust, and rage that I feel every time I look at you…they aren't real either. None of this is real. It's _all_ an illusion and I don't really want to kill you." He paused, asking sharply, "Does _that_ clarify everything?"

The Doctor did not reply, having suddenly realized his outrage had blinded him to the fact that he was completely helpless and locked in a room with an incredibly powerful being who had already tried to kill him once and seemed inclined to do so again.

As Jason crossed the room, he seemed to start. Out in the hall, the man tried the doorknob and the Prince threw a quick look at the door before stepping in front of the Doctor. He placed his left hand flat on his chest to pinpoint the pacemaker's exact location. Before he could tell his friend what he was doing, the Time Lord asked, "Are you going to kill me, Jason?"

Jason looked up sharply, completely shocked by this question. Then his scan registered more than the location of the pacemaker, which only added to his shock. The Doctor wasn't angry—he was afraid! His breathing was elevated, his hearts were racing each other, and his adrenaline level was through the roof.

By this time, the Alterran's eyes were glowing so fiercely that the Doctor stiffened involuntarily at the sight of them. Jason felt his body tense beneath his hand and wondered how his friend could have possibly misunderstood what he had told him. The flood of energy was surging through his own system at this point, his eyes changing from human to the crystalline sensors of his true form. He leaned forward slightly and asked softly, "Tell me, Doctor. Do you trust me?"

"What?" the Doctor asked in a horrified whisper.

The Alterran shifted his intense gaze to the Time Lord's rib cage. He could see bruises starting to form from the beating his friend had just received, the largest where Justin had kicked him in the ribs. That one would complicate things a bit. He drew a deep breath to steady himself and looked up, holding up the cloth he had been playing with. It was now in a neatly folded rectangle. "Bite," he ordered.

"Why?"

"Because this isn't going to be pleasant."

"Why am I not surprised?" the Doctor replied darkly. He felt an energy discharge from the hand Jason held to his chest and caught his breath, which allowed the Alterran to force the cloth between his teeth. Then pain caused him to clamp down on it. He saw Jason's eyes blaze even brighter before going dull, and knew he was scanning him.

As indeed he was. Jason tried to keep his mind completely focused on the scan. His right arm started to shimmer and changed, becoming a tendril of his true self. The Time Lord's body was also shimmering, starting at the Alterran's left hand and spreading out across his torso as the tendril slowly penetrated his body. Despite the Doctor's obvious distress, Jason knew the process would be far more excruciating if he moved too quickly, and deadly if he lost control of the molecular field.

In the hall, the man jumped away from the door at the sound of the Doctor's torment. After a few seconds of this, he finally lost his nerve and ran as fast as he could down the corridor.

oOo


	37. Code Phrase

**CHAPTER 37**

**CODE PHRASE**

The image suddenly froze. Eustis turned to the Doctor with a look of utter revulsion on his face. It was a look mirrored by many in the gallery. "Doctor, must we be subjected to this unpleasant scene a second time?" he asked in distaste.

"You should try living through it," the Doctor shot back, the words out of his mouth before he realized. "Sorry, my lord," he said quickly. "I am trying to make a point."

"Then please do so."

"The only way to get that bomb out of me short of surgery was to reach in and grab it, which is exactly what Prince Jason did," the Doctor stated flatly.

"Your highness, why not just tell the Doctor what you intended?" the prosecutor wanted to know. "Why allow him to continue to believe you intended him harm if, as you maintain, you did not."

"I actually _had_ intended to, my lord prosecutor, before everything got turned on its head. I didn't know that the Benefactor hadn't told him I'd purposely sent him to the Sanctuary," Jason replied firmly. "Or that he had given him the impression we were partners, making the illusion of enmity even stronger. I thought the Doctor understood when I told him it wasn't real. That it was all an illusion."

Fitzhugh blinked, throwing a quick glance in the Inquisitor's direction and seeing he was equally bewildered. "I'm sorry, your highness, at what point did you do this?"

Jason stepped up to the controls, rewound the extract and hit play. "Right here!"

oOo

The Doctor pulled against his bindings in frustration. "More deception? Just how much of this is real? Where does deception end and reality begin?"

"Are you saying deception isn't reality?" the Alterran said as he slowly crossed the room. "Maybe some things are more real than others."

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"Do you really want me to spell it out?" Jason said in a slightly surprised tone. "Okay, my hatred isn't real. My anger, feelings of betrayal, mistrust, and rage that I feel every time I look at you…they aren't real either. None of this is real. It's _all_ an illusion and I don't really want to kill you." He paused, asking sharply, "Does _that_ clarify everything?"

The screen froze and Jason glared at the prosecutor. "Well, my lord prosecutor? Does _that _clarify everything for you?" The Doctor touched his arm and he pulled away sharply, his eyes blazing.

"Calm down," the Doctor said softly. The last thing he needed was for the volatile Alterran to lose his temper. Jason drew a deep breath to get control of himself.

Fitzhugh waited until the Prince had composed himself before going on. "Your highness, did it ever occur to you that the Doctor misunderstood what you were trying to tell him?"

To everyone's surprise save the Doctor, Jason replied, "Yes."

The prosecutor actually jumped when he heard this. "Er, when?"

"When he asked if I was going to kill him," came the mournful reply.

"Wouldn't that have been a good time to correct the problem?"

"As I said at the time, I don't think the explanation would've gone over very well," Jason replied sharply. "And then the conversion rush hit full force. I only had a limited window of opportunity before I started to burn out. That's why I used a code phase."

"Forgive me, code phrase? What was this, code phrase?"

Jason gave a small smile. "Do you trust me."

"Obviously, he did not," Fitzhugh replied contemptuously.

"Objection," the Doctor snapped.

"Sustained." Eustis gave Fitzhugh a reproving look before turning to the Doctor, a look of confusion on his face. "Doctor, do you know to what his highness is referring?"

"Certainly," the Doctor replied with a grin.

"Would you please enlighten us?" the Inquisitor encouraged.

The Doctor threw a quick glance in the Alterran's direction before replying, "For several years, Prince Jason was my traveling companion. During that time, we used code words and phrases quite often. Normally when asked, 'Do you trust me?' the answer is 'yes' or 'why?' Prince Jason believed that I'd answered the latter. I should've realized at the time what he meant."

"If his highness had simply been straightforward to begin with, it never would've been necessary to use this…code phrase at all," the prosecutor retorted sharply.

"_Straightforward?_ On almost every occasion, Prince Jason told me the literal truth, but I was too blind and, I'll admit, too terrified to realize what he was doing."

"Doctor, would you have us believe that _all _your previous testimony was false?" Fitzhugh asked suddenly, and Jason saw the same predatory expression on his face as when he learned he would be testifying.

"My previous testimony was wrong, because my view of the facts was wrong," the Doctor replied tersely. "If I hadn't overlooked the most fundamental aspect of his personality, I never would've misunderstood his intentions. Prince Jason is first and foremost a Healer. He always has been and always will be. If that point isn't glaringly obvious by now, it will be made abundantly clear in the events that occurred after I lost consciousness."

oOo


	38. Forgive Me

**CHAPTER 38**

**FORGIVE ME**

**Mission Day ****53** - continued

Jason seemed oblivious to the Doctor's torment, his concentration fixed on the scan and keeping the molecular field stable. His scan alerted him that the Time Lord was having difficulty breathing, and then he suddenly stopped breathing altogether. Jason paused, discovering the molecular field had paralyzed the Doctor's lungs. He pulled it away, and was relieved to hear the whimpered gasps in response. He closed his eyes, wincing in pain as the same time. Steeling himself to go on, he gritted his teeth and reached in further, feeling the Time Lord's body go rigid and hearing his cry of torment in response.

In a barely audible whisper, Jason said, "Hang on, Doctor, hang on, all…most…" Finally, he touched the object of his search. "Got it!" he breathed triumphantly, feeling his friend's body go limp as he lost consciousness.

The Alterran slowly extracted his arm and it returned to its human appearance. He shook it and then hugged it against his body, wincing in pain as he did so. _That was an incredibly unpleasant experience,_ he thought darkly. After a moment, he looked at the small bloody object in his palm, a satisfied smile coming to his face.

Jason turned to the limp figure beside him and smiled affectionately. Lifting the Doctor's head, he pulled the cloth from between his teeth, seeing he had actually bitten through several layers of the fabric. He gently brushed the sweat soaked hair from his face. "Forgive me, old friend," he said softly. A moment later, he was back in his true form.

oOo

The image suddenly froze. "Have you forgiven him, Doctor?" Fitzhugh practically demanded.

The Doctor was completely thrown by this question. "What?"

"I'm sure the court would be interested in learning if you have indeed forgiven his highness for this…violation of your person. You say your view of the facts was wrong, yet at the time, you believed he meant to kill you. That you were afraid for you very life."

"I have already agreed with you on those points," the Doctor replied sharply.

"Then pray, tell us, Doctor—"

"That will be quite enough, Fitzhugh," Eustis broke in sharply. "I remind you again, the Doctor is not the focus of this trial."

"So there," Jason said under his breath as the prosecutor bowed and returned to his seat.

oOo

Jason gently brushed the sweat soaked hair from the Doctor's face. "Forgive me, old friend," he said softly. A moment later, he was back in his true form. He removed the Time Lord's restraints, gently entwining his body to keep him from dropping to the floor. He carried the limp form across the room and carefully placed him on the slab protruding from the wall.

Jason went to retrieve the cloak he had left at the computer, returning to his human form at the same time. He threw the cloak over his arm, pulling out the medical bag from which he had taken the pillbox. As he turned back, he idly glanced up from his bag. He did a double take when he saw the Doctor's body glowing slightly. "Oh no, you don't," he said between his teeth, taking a vial from the bag as he practically flew across the room. He held the glass against the Time Lord's neck, allowing the medication to be absorbed directly into his system. The glow faded immediately.

The Prince suddenly realized he was holding his breath. He slid to the floor beside the slab and exhaled, leaning his head against the Doctor's body, a sigh of relief escaping him. A shudder shook his body and he looked up as if suddenly coming awake. This was the last gasp of the conversion rush as it dissipated. He stood up, covering the Doctor's naked form with the cloak. He then pulled a chair beside the slab and sat down, taking his friend's hand. He watched the exceptionally pale figure closely, scanning him continuously.

"Come on, come on, you stubborn Gallifreyan, stabilize!" the Alterran Healer encouraged quietly. After a few minutes, he gave a satisfied grunt and placed the Doctor's arm back under the covering. Thus assured there would not be a repeat performance, he turned his attention to the pacemaker he had just extracted. He cleaned the blood from its surface and then pulled out a jeweler's glass to inspect its inner workings more closely. When he did, he caught his breath. "You've been activated!" he gasped, looking at the unconscious Time Lord in shock. "No wonder you almost regenerated."

oOo

The Doctor was back on his feet. "Regardless of what I may or may not have thought at the time, anyone who would stop a premature regeneration is not out to harm anyone."

Eustis gave an exasperated sigh. "Doctor, you're not making sense."

"I'm trying to say that it's obvious Prince Jason wasn't trying to kill me," the Doctor replied.

"Just torture you." Fitzhugh said tauntingly. "His highness could have given himself this conversion rush simply as a means of tormenting you further. The request for trust and forgiveness a taunt rather than an appeal."

"If that were the case his attitude and body language would've changed as soon as I was unconscious," the Doctor retorted.

"Gentlemen," Eustis reproved sharply, "rather than resort to wild speculation might I suggest that you direct your questions to Prince Jason. He is, after all, the one who is supposed to be testifying," he reproved sharply. "Do either of you have anything _relevant_ to ask his highness?"

Jason thought that they looked like a couple of contrite children caught with their hands in the cookie jar. He had to fight to keep from laughing.

"Yes, I have a question," the Doctor replied suddenly, and then stunned everyone in the room when he asked, "Your highness, was the operation of removing the pacemaker a painful one?"

There was a collective gasp of surprise from the gallery, and Jason's mouth dropped open in shock. The prosecutor looked over at the equally stunned Inquisitor. Finally, everyone's attention turned to the Prince as he slowly rose to his feet. Before he could answer, the Doctor said quickly, "Aside from the fact that it was obviously painful for me, was it painful for you?"

Jason scowled, wondering where his friend was going with this. "Um…yes, it was."

"And you knew this beforehand?"

"Yes. Keeping a molecular field stable for longer than a few seconds is...well, it hurts a lot."

"Did you know this as a Healer or from past experience?" the Doctor pressed on.

"Past experience."

"You've done it before?"

"Yes," Jason replied, adding bluntly, "And it hurt like hell."

"Yet, knowing this in advance, you still chose to perform this operation despite the harm it would bring to yourself."

"I wasn't the one whose life was in danger, you were."

"Weren't you in danger from the conversion rush?" the Time Lord asked mildly.

"No. I can utilize the energy from that any one of a dozen ways," Jason replied tersely.

"And it couldn't've waited?" the Doctor asked in a disapproving tone that he knew would set the Alterran off.

"_Waited?_" Jason retorted sharply. "And risk its being activated? I wasn't about to leave that thing where it was just because I might find it painful for a few minutes. You could've _died!_ That's all I cared about." Seeing his friend's eye flicker, he suddenly realized the Doctor had led him into this admission with conspicuous ease. He closed his eyes and gave an annoyed sigh, making a mental note to get even with his friend for this as some point in the future. If he had a future, that is.

"Thank you, your highness. No further questions," the Doctor said mildly, giving Jason an apologetic look at the same time.


	39. The Beginning Of The End

**CHAPTER 39**

**THE BEGINNING OF THE END**

"As we've already seen," the Doctor went on, "after I regained consciousness, Prince Jason revealed the reason for his unorthodox extraction of the pacemaker as well as voicing his own desire to locate the Benefactor."

oOo

**Mission Day ****53** - continued

As the Doctor got dressed, Jason threw his cloak back on. His eyes fell on the computer terminal and he stopped, cocking his head to one side as he studied at it.

"Well, for the first time since I got here, I actually know what you're thinking," the Doctor remarked from behind him.

Jason turned and then stepped aside, holding out a hand. "Would you like the honors?" he asked politely.

The Doctor scowled and then smiled, holding out his own hand. "No, no," he replied, equally politely. "By all means. You're the expert."

"Doctor, we _are _after the same thing," Jason said as he dropped into the chair. He pushed several buttons without success. "No power."

The Doctor searched the surrounding area and found several switches on the wall. He began throwing them one after the other until the computer came to life. "Power," he said triumphantly, looking back at the screen.

Jason was already tapping away on the keyboard. "Let's just pray this piece of junk doesn't crash before I can bring up…bring up…" He voice trailed off and he scowled at the screen. "Come on, come on. Tell me your secrets, you archaic piece of scrap iron," he said quietly.

The Doctor watched the monitor as file after file flashed up.

"What the hell?" Jason stopped his flurry of activity and sat back. "What does he think he's doing?"

The Doctor didn't like the sound of this at all. "What is it?"

"It looks like he's trying to bring all the ship's systems back on-line. Look at this!" Jason pointed at the screen. "Those're the diagnostic programs that've run in the last day alone."

"_Trying_ is one thing, Jason. The question is, is he capable of pulling it off?"

"Until now, I'd've said no. Now I'm not so sure."

"He's trading more than just information and gadgets," the Doctor muttered thoughtfully.

"What?"

"Nothing," the Doctor said quickly. "Any way of telling how close the systems are to being fully online?"

The Alterran's fingers clattered on the keyboard. The monitor screen flashed up file after file and then suddenly started to buzz. "Uh-oh," he said under his breath, jumping to his feet and backing up as the panel beside him started to throw out sparks. There were several pops from within the panel followed by a loud hissing, a sharp bang, and finally smoke.

Jason gave the Doctor an apologetic look. "Um, I think the answer to your question would be, no," he said in a small voice.

The Doctor gave him a disapproving look. "Then we'll just have to look, won't we?" he said sharply. He didn't wait for a reply and headed for the door, which he slowly pulled open. To his relief, the corridor beyond was empty. "You didn't happen to look at the map of this place before you followed me, did you?" he asked as he stepped out into the passageway.

"Yes, I looked at the map," Jason replied in an annoyed tone. "The main control systems are eight floors above the engine room. Fortunately, we happen to be on that level."

"Good." The Doctor held out a hand. "Then you can lead the way."

As Jason described the route they needed to take, the two moved deeper and deeper into the ship. The sound system started to crackle with static and they ignored it until they heard the sound of someone clearing his throat. "Come out, come out, wherever you are…" the Benefactor sing-songed. "I know you're out there, Doctor. Quite the escape artist, aren't we?"

There was a squeal of feedback and a roar of static.

"I've decided to look for greener pastures," the Benefactor went on happily. "If you don't want to be here for liftoff, I suggest you make your way to the nearest exit." This was followed by a loud pop as he signed off.

"He's nuts. He can't possibly think just because I got a transmat working he can get this relic airborne," Jason snorted, completely unaware of how this remark would be taken.

"What!" the Doctor exclaimed. "_You_ got the transmat working?"

Jason actually flinched. "Yes. Doctor, he was supposed to be working with _me_ to—"

The Doctor cut him off. "With you? Or _for_ you? Just what part did he play in the Triad?"

"The Triad? None."

"Then why did you have your ship intercepting messages?"

While this was a valid question, Jason was unable to follow the logic that caused it. "My ship picked up the transmission traffic," he replied in a bewildered tone. "I thought there might be a spy in the Sanctuary. I didn't even know for certain that the others knew it existed until the day they tried to kill me."

The Doctor put his hands to his ears, in an obvious gesture that he had heard enough. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. It's not my fault! Everybody's against me." He shook his head, anger blazing in his eyes. He pulled out the pacemaker and held it up. "I foolishly thought you might actually have wanted to save me when you pulled this out. You did it for yourself." He threw the device to the ground. "Now that your partner thinks you're dead, you need me to help stop him selling _your_ secrets to the highest bidder. Just how long have you been selling information?" Not waiting for a reply, the Doctor turned on his heel and stormed up the corridor.

"What partner?" Jason wanted to know. He had absolutely no idea what the Doctor was raving about and was getting more confused by the minute. He stood in a stunned silence as the Time Lord strode off and finally had to run to catch up.

The Doctor stopped at an intersection and looked around. "Well, which way the power room?" he asked sharply the instant Jason arrived.

"Power room? I thought you wanted…" the Prince's voice trailed off when he received an irritated look. The Doctor was in no mood for arguments and seemed beyond reason at this point. "Okay, the power room." Having never been there, Jason closed his eyes, visualizing the map. He located their present position and that of the power room. His eyes snapped open and he got his bearings, pointing down a corridor. "That way."

The Time Lord strode off, leaving the Alterran to chase after him again.

"I'm almost afraid to ask this," the Doctor said as his reluctant companion caught up with him. "Just what kind of power system does this dinosaur use?"

"I have no idea," Jason replied. "It could be anything from anti-matter to an old style nuclear reactor, for all I know."

"You didn't look when you fixed the transmat?" the Doctor asked sarcastically.

"No, I didn't. It wasn't necessary."

The Doctor did not even break stride as he threw a disbelieving look over his shoulder.

"It wasn't!" Jason protested. "Why won't you believe me?"

The Time Lord abruptly stopped dead and turned, looming over the Alterran so suddenly that he fell over backwards onto the floor. "Because everything you've told me so far has been a lie," he stated categorically.

"Not everything," came the meek reply.

An angry growl rose in the Doctor's throat. He turned and stormed off again. This time Jason let him go, choosing not to run after him, following at a walk. He'd slow down eventually. Maybe then he would be able to tell him they still needed to go down several floors.


	40. The End Is Near

**CHAPTER 40**

**THE END IS NEAR**

**Mission End**

The Doctor arrived at an archway that opened onto a platform above a yawning chasm. This was, in actuality, part of the ventilation shaft above the engine room's main floor. The platform was connected to another on the far side by a catwalk. There were several levels within the enormous empty space, each with a section of catwalk crisscrossing each other throughout. "Somehow I knew there'd be decaying catwalks at the end of this journey," he grumbled.

On one of the levels below him, the Benefactor was making his way across. The Doctor stepped onto the walkway and leaned over the railing. "Benefactor!"

The Benefactor looked up and laughed. "Doctor!" he called out happily. Jason arrived at that moment and received his own greeting. "And the late Ambassador Krystovan!"

"Benefactor, stop!" the Doctor called. "You don't know what you're doing."

"Really?" the Benefactor called back. "I thought everything worked out perfectly."

"This ship will never take the strain of a powered assent," Jason pointed out. "If you try, it'll crack like an egg. You'll blow yourself and half the countryside to atoms."

"You know, Ambassador, that was the plan from the beginning."

"What?" the baffled Jason gasped. He looked over at the Doctor in bewilderment, seeing a look of thunder on his face. Before he could say anything, a muffled thud shook the room, throwing him off balance and back against the wall.

The Benefactor looked up and waved. "Good bye, Doctor!" he cried happily. "Give my regards to the High Council!" So saying, he charged to the archway beneath them and vanished, cackling the whole time.

"He's as mad as a hatter," Jason said as he struggled to regain is footing, grabbing the wall to keep his balance.

The Doctor moved further along the catwalk just as another muffled thud resounded through the room. It was as though some ancient machinery were trying to turn over for the first time in centuries. "I think that may be the pre-ignition sequence starting," he guessed.

"Great. How long does that take?" Jason asked nervously.

"No telling."

Instead of the thuds they had been hearing, an explosion suddenly rocked the room and sent the metal catwalks swaying. The end of the one on which the Doctor stood clanged into the supports of another below. "I wouldn't put it past that lunatic to have booby traps all over the place," he called over the growing noise.

"Oh, terrific," Jason moaned. He grabbed the Time Lord's arm to try and pull him back the way they had come. He could hear smaller explosions starting further within the building, each one causing the room to vibrate. "We've got to get out of here!"

"No!" the Doctor snapped, pulling his arm away. "I've got shut it down." He continued as swiftly as he could, calling back over his shoulder. "You were right about one thing. If that power system blows, it'll take out several square miles and contaminate an area several times that. And that's just a conservative estimate."

"Any more comforting thoughts, Doctor? You realize we're standing right over the top of the engine room!"

Jason had to struggle to keep up on the swaying metalwork. The Time Lord was already halfway across and several feet ahead of him. The catwalk suddenly pitched violently, throwing the Alterran into the railing to one side. The supports of another section broke away, swinging down and catching him across the head and shoulders, stunning him. The momentum carried him over the railing, yet somehow, miraculously, he managed to maintain his grip.

The Time Lord did not even think twice. He dove at the railing, catching hold of the dazed Alterran's wrists just as his hands slipped free. "Don't kick or you'll have us both over!" he called, pulling with all his strength to get Jason up high enough so he could climb over the railing. They landed together on the metal surface, panting from the effort.

The Doctor looked the Prince in the eye. "Help me end this," he said firmly.

Another explosion shook the room as they got to their feet. The catwalk suspended above them started to detach from the ceiling and Jason jumped back as chunks of metal and dust rained down on them. He looked up at the decaying metalwork of the walkway on which they stood, seeing it twist and distort under their weight. "This thing's gonna fall any second and take us both with it."

"Then run!" the Doctor cried, giving him a shove. The catwalk continued to sway beneath their feet, shuddering dangerously as another section pulled free from the ceiling. Jason made it to the platform first, running full pelt. He had to use the wall to stop himself and leaned against its reassuringly solid surface as he tried to catch his breath.

The Doctor was practically on his heels. He was almost to the platform when the end section of the catwalk broke free from the ceiling and dropped several feet, the ramp beneath his feet suddenly vanishing. He made a desperate leap into space, landing half-on, half-off the platform, his lower body dangling over the edge. He tried to pull himself up but his hands could find no purchase. He quickly slid backwards and made a frantic grab for the safety railing at the edge of the platform. It immediately twisted under his weight and folded over, leaving the Time Lord suspended in midair.

This had all taken place in the blink of an eye. One second the Doctor was half-on the platform, the next he was dangling in space and hanging onto a piece of questionable metalwork for dear life. He looked up, seeing the railing slowly bending under his weight. He suddenly found himself wondering if Jason would even respond if he called for help.

Even as this thought was passing through the Time Lord's mind, Jason abruptly appeared above him. Without a word, he grabbed the Doctor by his coat and pulled with all his might, lifting him up and onto the platform just as an enormous section of metal crashed against the edge where he had been.

The Alterran dropped to the floor beside the Doctor, too winded to say a word. As they struggled to catch their breath, they watched as the remaining catwalk completely broke free, crashing into the section below.

The Doctor got to his feet and gave Jason a dark look. "I suppose now you're going to say we're even," he said sarcastically.

Jason replied with an angry scowl. As he stood up, he watched the raging Time Lord storm toward the archway. There was an explosion in the corridor just outside the door, the force of the blast knocking him off of his feet again. A chuck of debris caught the Doctor in the forehead and sent him sprawling.

Unaware of this, Jason was picking himself up off of the ground again. He shook his head to clear it, his ears ringing from the noise. He looked up to see the Doctor lying motionless on the ground and staggered over to him. There was blood trickling down the Time Lord's face. Jason knelt down beside him and brushed his hair aside revealing the gash on his forehand.

Another explosion rocked the room and Jason used his own body to shield the Doctor from the storm of debris that rained down on them. A large, heavy and sharp metal object struck him square in the back and he yelped in pain but continued to act as a shield until the debris stopped falling. Then he collapsed to the floor, rolling painfully onto his back. To his horror, he saw another enormous piece of twisted metal directly above him. It looked like it was hanging by a thread. Summoning all his strength, he pulled the unconscious Time Lord across the floor and into the questionable safety of the doorframe just as the object broke free and imbedded itself into the very spot where they had been.

Cradling the Doctor protectively in his arms, Jason sat gasping for breath as the room beyond continued to disintegrate. He reached back to where the debris struck him, his hand coming away with blood on it. "Great," he muttered darkly. Closing his eyes, he put his head back against the wall in resignation. "We're not gonna make it." Then he heard the sound he dreaded coming from below. The machinery in the engine room was starting to whine. Power up had begun.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. We've run out of time," he said in an exhausted whisper.

A quick search the Time Lord's coat pockets produced the recall disk. As the engine room started to explode, Jason activated the disk, transporting the Doctor and himself to the safety of the _ARGO_.


	41. It Ends Here

**CHAPTER 41**

**IT ENDS HERE**

Jason had barely materialized on the flight deck when he commanded, "Computer, get us out of here. Now!"

**"Systems activating. Course required for launch."**

"I don't care, anywhere. High orbit!"

**"Course required for launch,"** the computer replied stubbornly.

Cursing under his breath, Jason didn't even bother to stand. He crawled over to the console, punching in a heading from his knees. "Now launch!"

**"Safety settings engaging."**

Jason cursed again. "Command override, designation Krystovan. Now launch, you stupid machine, launch!"

**"Acknowledged."**

The ship suddenly lurched, throwing the Prince onto his back. He could hear the engines powering up and braced himself for the G-forces to come.

Fifty miles from the Sanctuary, the water in a peaceful lake suddenly became violent, as though in response to a coming storm, tall waves crashing onto the shoreline. Then a loud rumbling like distant thunder rolled across the area, the ground shaking in response. A few seconds later the _ARGO_ appeared, rising from the depths of the lake. It cleared the surface and lifted off, moving faster and faster, attaining escape velocity and shooting out of the atmosphere, away from the planet's surface and on a heading that would take it out of the system.

On the main view screen, the planet shown like a blue green marble in space, slowly growing smaller as the ship moved away.

Jason slowly and painfully picked himself off of the floor of the flight deck. He staggered over to the sickbay where he retrieved his Med-kit and returned to the Doctor's side, cleaning and dressing his wound. He had scarcely finished when the Doctor regained consciousness, a moan escaping him as he did so.

"What happened?" he asked, a hand going to his aching head.

"You were knocked out by an explosion," Jason said as he slowly got to his feet. "We're on the _ARGO_."

"The _ARGO?_" The Doctor blinked up at him and then sat up, an accusing look on his face. "Do you mean to say—?" He got no further. At that moment, the main view screen flared.

They both turned to see a white mushroom cloud billowing up from one of the continents. Then to their horror, the atmosphere burst into flame, the inferno rolling around the globe like a great wave until the entire surface was awash in its glow. When the blazing light finally faded, it revealed a blackened husk where there had once been a thriving world.

"That wasn't supposed to happen," Jason said in a horrified whisper.

The Doctor jumped to his feet, beside himself with rage. "Is that _all_ you have to say? It wasn't supposed to happen?"

"Doctor, it wasn't supposed to be like this."

"An entire planet's been destroyed!" the Doctor thundered. "Billions of lives snuffed out! And you think you can explain it away by saying it wasn't supposed to happen?"

"It wasn't!"

The Doctor glared at him. "I don't know what's happened to you," he said angrily, "but I know it had nothing to do with what happened between us. That…you…" As impossible as it seems, he could not find the words to describe the revulsion he felt at that moment. "I'm done."

The Alterran gave him a stricken look. "What?"

"You heard me. I'm done with you. Finished. When I leave, I never want to hear from you again. Is that understood? If you try to send for me, I won't come."

"You think I'm responsible for this?" Jason gasped in disbelief. "You don't understand!"

"That's the first thing you've said that I _do_ agree with," the Doctor shot back. "I don't understand! I'm done trying to understand."

"What happened to not wanting to change history? And everything else in that guilt trip you laid on me last time?" Jason demanded. "I'm to forgive you, but you can't forgive me, is that it? Now we're even?"

"I could forgive you any number of things, Jason, but how do you justify that!" He pointed at the screen. "That…_abomination_ is unforgivable."

"It was a mistake!"

This was the wrong thing to say. The Doctor completely lost his temper and did something he never thought he would. He struck Jason hard across the face with the back of his hand. The blow was so unexpected it knocked the already injured Alterran off of his feet.

The ship's computer, which had been unusually silent during this altercation, suddenly came to life. **"Activating defense mode,"** it announced.

"Cancel," Jason snapped as he struggled painfully to his elbows.

The Doctor was so furious; he didn't even notice when this happened.

"A mistake! _I_ made a mistake! But you…you…" Again, the Doctor found himself at a loss for words. "I don't know who you are anymore. You're a complete stranger. I am not getting sucked in to any more of your deceptions."

Jason looked at the enraged Time Lord standing over him and knew that somehow he had gotten everything completely wrong. Unfortunately, his brain couldn't supply the words he needed, and by this point, the Doctor was completely beyond reason. He got to his feet and went to the console. "Computer, map," he commanded dully. A map of the _ARGO_'s interior appeared on the main screen. "Your TARDIS is there." He pointed to a storage bay. "Take it and go, if that's what you want."

The Time Lord drew himself to his full height. "It ends here."

"If that's what you want," came the toneless reply.

"You can't even give me a straight answer now, can you?" the Doctor observed in irritation. With that, he turned on his heel and left.

Jason watched him go in a stunned silence. He heard the TARDIS dematerialize and closed his eyes, his only hope of salvation abandoning him. Then he slowly sank into the command chair, putting his head in his hands. "It wasn't supposed to end like this," he said in a small voice.

The Prince looked over in the direction of the sickbay but could not summon the energy to stand and cross to it. Turning back to the console, he laid his head in his arms, completely exhausted. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he was suffering from shock but was just too numb to do anything about it. A large bloodstain was blossoming across his back, and he was oblivious to it. He was oblivious to everything but his own sudden and total isolation.

oOo


	42. End Day Two

**CHAPTER 42**

**END DAY TWO**

The Doctor stood silently a moment, allowing the assembled observers time to take in the horror of what they had just seen. He looked over at Jason and did a double take when he saw tears streaming down his face. Even though he knew his horrible misjudgment had hurt his Alterran friend deeply, he never realized how just devastating it had been until that moment.

"My lord, one's view of events is entirely subjective," the Doctor said at last. "The charges, put simply, contend that Prince Jason single-handedly destroyed an entire civilization. The prosecution painted him as a monster, the worst villain to enter these halls. To my shame, I too, in my own arrogance, was too blind to see what he had been telling me the whole time. He put himself in peril on more than one occasion, saving my life at the risk of his own."

"Is the defense making its closing statement, Doctor?" Eustis asked sharply.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "No, my lord."

"Then I suggest we adjourn for the day." Eustis banged the gavel to make it official. He rose and quickly retired to his chambers, completely omitting his usual bow to the opposing councils. The assembled observers filed out in a daze, the image of Eldeberon's final moments having stunned all present.

The Doctor sat down and looked over at the Prince, who was in the process of wiping the tears from his face. "Jason, I don't have the words to express how genuinely sorry I am," he said in a quiet, earnest tone.

The Prince looked up sharply, a stunned look on his face. For the Doctor to actually admit to being at a loss for words was more amazing than the apology itself. "Doctor…"

"How could I've been so blind!" the Doctor said in an annoyed tone. "To believe you'd be capable of anything that—_evil_."

A stray tear rolled down Jason's face and he quickly brushed it away, discovering at the same time that he was trembling. "Doctor, I—_we_—were manipulated by an expert."

"No," the Doctor corrected sharply. "I was a blinkered, arrogant, close-minded fool!"

Jason gave a bittersweet laugh. "You think I'm going to argue with you?" he joked. "I seem to recall using similar adjectives myself once." Then in a serious tone, he said, "I just wish I knew the _why_ in all this."

"As do I," the Doctor agreed. "I do have one 'why' you can answer for me. _Why_ did you ever let me leave like that?"

The Alterran closed his eyes, recalling his state of mind at the time, how exhausted he had been both physically and mentally. "Doctor, by that point I was a battered mess. Don't forget, I was still recovering from nearly fifty hours in stasis. I could barely think straight. I thought you knew I'd purposely sent you to the Sanctuary. I mean, you didn't disagree when I mentioned it. I should've realized the Benefactor never—" Jason put a hand to his head. "God, I was so stupid!" He looked his friend in the eye. "I just figured you'd storm off, think about it, get even more furious, and come back demanding an explanation. At least by then you'd be a little more receptive." Pausing, he observed mildly, "I guess…I was wrong on that count."

"Actually, you were right," the Doctor replied startlingly. "But I got the message from Eustis before I could track you down."

Captain Reinhardt had come up quietly to return Jason to his cell. He decided not to interrupt and stepped back. When the Doctor finally noticed him, he snapped angrily, "Can't you wait even five minutes?"

The Prince put a restraining hand on his friend's arm. "Now, Doctor, don't take it out on the Captain just because you're mad at yourself," he reproved mildly. Then to Reinhardt, he said, "Just ignore him and carry on, Captain."

The Captain was taken aback by this exchange. After weeks of silence and indifference, the Prince was suddenly back in command of himself.

Jason stood up and held out his hands, remaining motionless as the shackles were fastened around his wrists, a chain wrapping around his waist to secure them into place. The power unit was activated and he stumbled on the step as he left the prisoner's dock. The Captain managed to catch him before he actually fell.

"Jason, are you alright?" the Doctor asked concernedly.

"I went too fast," Jason said as he regained his footing. "These things throw my balance off the first minute or so." He waited a moment to regain his equilibrium before walking from the courtroom, the Doctor following behind.

Since the beginning of the inquiry, the corridors were empty at the end of the day, but not on this occasion. There were small groups in huddled conversation lining the hall. The assembled Time Lords looked up and watched silently as the Alterran walked by, returning to their conversations after he had passed.

Jason threw a quick glance over his shoulder and the Doctor came up beside him. "I have half a mind to jump up and down and scream," he said once he was close. "Really give them something to talk about."

"While I appreciate the sentiment," the Doctor replied softly, "now is not the time."

"No, I suppose it's not. Some other…" Jason's voice trailed off as a sudden thought struck him and he stopped dead. "Some other…time," he said softly. "Time…" He caught his breath and spun around, looking back up the corridor to the courtroom.

"What've you remembered?" the Doctor asked knowingly.

"Is there any way I can get in to view the Matrix archive?" the Alterran asked startlingly.

The Doctor blinked, exchanging an astonished look with the Captain. "Possibly. Why?"

Jason's eyes were positively sparkling by this time. "Among other things, to see who the Good Samaritan was when Cardinal Wythe fell down the stairs."

"A long shot but… Why not?" the Doctor enthused. He turned on his heel, heading back in the direction of Eustis' office.

"Doctor!" Jason called in annoyance. The Time Lord turned around, seeing him holding out his shackled hands as far as he could. "Um…?"

The Doctor gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry. I'll let you know how it goes." So saying, he continued up the corridor, vanishing around a corner.

"Well, at least he didn't say later," the Prince sighed. He turned back to his escort. "Looks like it's just you and me again, Captain."

"Yes, your highness," Reinhardt replied with a smile.

Jason gave him a sideways glance as they started on their way again. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, sir."

"Don't give me that stoic routine. I'm Alterran. We invented it," Jason admonished mildly. "Come on, give."

Reinhardt gave a self-conscious half smile. "This is the first time I've heard you carry on a normal conversation since…" His voice trailed off and he gave Jason a guilty look.

"Since you arrested me," the Alterran prompted gently.

"Yes, sir," the officer replied regretfully. Reinhardt had the feeling that if the Alterran Prince were not his prisoner, he would very likely be his friend.

Jason nodded. "Yes, well. No offense, but the majority of Time Lords aren't exactly the most sterling conversationalists. Stoic is one thing, but cold detachment is definitely not my purview."

"No offense taken, sir," Reinhardt replied, admitting, "To be frank, I quite agree with you."

"Really?" came the astonished reply. "I'm not sure I have a comeback for that."

**oOo END PART THREE oOo**


	43. Part Four: Break In The Action

**PART FOUR**

**LOOKING FOR CLUES**

**CHAPTER 43**

**BREAK IN THE ACTION**

Reinhardt had to quickly put on a serious face as he and his prisoner reached the holding area. The guard on duty snapped to attention before he opened the door leading to the cell. As on every other occasion, this man stood with his weapon drawn while the Alterran's bindings were removed. Between the time the power unit was deactivated and the forcefield switched on, Jason was unrestrained by an energy barrier. If he chose to, he could transmute and overpower his escort. The presence of the second man was a way of deterring such a possibly, or so they assumed.

As always, Jason waited placidly as the bindings were removed and the cell door opened. He crossed the threshold, hearing the metal clang behind him. Since his usual way of changing his clothes was to transmute, he was allowed one minute to do so before the forcefield was activated. This single minute only underscored the freedom that he'd lost, and the fear he instilled in his captors.

When the minute ended, Jason heard a hum of power as the energy field came on, surrounding the cell and trapping him in his current form. He closed his eyes in resignation. _Caged again until morning,_ he thought. He turned, watching as the guard holstered his weapon, saluted, and left.

Reinhardt stored the bindings for the night and turned, seeing Jason at the cell door leaning casually on his elbow. Normally he would have taken a seat by the small table in the cell to await the arrival of his dinner.

"Do you have any thoughts on all this, Captain?" the captive Alterran asked conversationally.

Reinhardt was taken aback by this. No one ever asked his opinion on anything other than security matters. "It's…not my place to judge, sir," he said evasively.

Jason flashed an amused smile, giving him an admiring look. "You'd make a good diplomat, Captain," he observed, adding playfully, "Or politician."

"Your highness," the Captain said in a mockingly serious tone, "I told them you'd _stopped_ being verbally abusive." Much to the officer's delight, this actually made the Prince laugh. It was the first time he had ever heard him laugh and he could not help reflecting on the miraculous change that had taken place in his demeanor since the Doctor took over his defense.

"Touché. Good night, Captain Reinhardt."

"Good night, your royal highness." The officer bowed slightly and left.

Jason crossed to his bed, sat down and then flopped back, staring up at the ceiling. Just watching the events on Eldeberon was exhausting. It was like reliving the nightmare all over again. He was grateful for this break in the action, as it were, so he could reflect on what he had witnessed over the past two days. Many of the events were a complete shock to him. If only he'd known! No wonder the Doctor had thought the worst.

When dinner finally arrived, Jason rolled onto his side and leaned on an elbow, watching a similar ritual as when his bindings were removed. It was like a bizarre little dance, he reflected, and wondered why this had never struck him before, concluding that he'd been too self-absorbed to notice the two performances with each meal; bring the tray, take the tray. It was always the same little dance. A guard stood with his weapon drawn; the forcefield shut down, a food tray slid through the slot in the bottom to the door, the forcefield turned on, and players in that half of the performance withdrew.

* * *

Jason was just finishing his meal when the Doctor burst into the room. "I have good news and bad news," he announced as he entered. He stopped in front of the cell and looked thoughtfully at the tray within. "That looks very good," he remarked hungrily.

"I don't suggest you try to and reach in to get some," the Alterran replied mildly.

The Time Lord looked up, taking stock of the energy field. "Oh, yes. Pity that," he observed in a disappointed tone.

"Your news…?"

"Ah! Yes, my news. After a bit of arm twisting, I've managed to get permission for you to accompany me to the Matrix archive."

"I assume that's the good news."

"Yes." The Doctor cleared his throat. "The bad news is—"

"I have to wear my stylish electronic bracelets when I do it," Jason said in an amiable tone.

"Yes. Sorry about that. Eustis was very adamant on that point."

"Considering the circumstances, I can't really blame him."

The Doctor gave the Alterran a quizzical look and actually took a step back as though to study him further. "You're very magnanimous tonight," he observed in amazement. "A far cry from when I first walked through that door."

Jason sat back in his chair, studying the Time Lord back. "You've changed a bit in your outlook too since then," he observed. "Anyway, how soon can I—" He broke off and stood up, dropping his napkin on top of the tray. "Strike that. I forgot who I was talking to. You've come to take me to the archive now, haven't you?"

The Doctor broke into a broad smile. This was the Jason Krystovan he knew. "Yes," he said happily.

Jason crossed to the door and leaned on his elbow, resting his chin on his hand. "You'd better get someone to let me out, then," he said in an almost bored tone.

"Already taken care of."

"The Captain's already gone off duty," Jason pointed out with a sigh. "I'm not sure who they'll send. Some poor junior officer, I expect."

The Doctor waved a hand in the air. "Doesn't matter," he said dismissively before going on with his news, "The Matrix Keeper is to meet us at the archive. Oh, yes, I almost forgot. More good news. If we come up with anything, Eustis has promised to give us a continuance."

Jason was clearly impressed. "Was that part of your arm twisting?"

The Doctor smiled unabashedly. "Now we still have to find something, Jason, so don't get your hopes up. I managed to convince Eustis that it's in everyone's best interest for you to review the Matrix archive. After your little proclamation about the imposter, he agreed that it's possible you'll see something that we all missed."

"I hope so."

Two guards came in to remove the Alterran from his cell. One already had his weapon drawn. Seeing this, he said darkly, "Otherwise, this is how I'm going to end up spending the rest of my life. If I'm not executed, that is."


	44. A New Set Of Eyes

**CHAPTER 44**

**A NEW SET OF EYES**

As promised, the Matrix Keeper was waiting outside the door when the Doctor and Jason arrived. He threw an apprehensive look in the Alterran's direction before addressing the Doctor. "Cardinal Eustis has already sent the necessary clearances for you, Doctor," he informed nervously as he pulled the door open. "If you should require any assistance, I'll be at hand."

"That's very kind of you, Keeper," the Doctor replied. "But I think we can manage."

The Keeper inclined his head, exchanging a quick glance with Jason's guard before disappearing into his office.

The Doctor held the door open so Jason could enter and then quickly stepped in front of his guard. "Sorry, the clearance is only for the two of us," he informed crisply.

"Sir, my orders are to remain with Prince Jason at all times," the guard replied.

The Doctor would not budge. "If you'd like to take it up with the Keeper, you're more than welcome to try."

The guard threw a helpless look in the direction of the Keeper's office.

"He'll just tell you," the Doctor went on, "that the only way in or out of here is through this door. Now be a good chap and stand guard, will you?" With that, he shut the door in his face.

"That wasn't very nice," Jason said disapprovingly when his friend turned to him.

The Time Lord waved his hand in the air. "Never mind him, we have work to do."

Jason turned to take in his surroundings, his first impression of the room being that of a private viewing room. At the front was an enormous screen similar to the one in the courtroom, at the back a curved console with two chairs directly behind. As he drew closer, he noticed the controls on the console were similar to those in the Doctor's TARDIS.

"Well, don't just stand there, take a seat," the Doctor said impatiently. He went to the back wall and began switching on the systems.

Jason crossed to the chairs and stopped, looking them up and down. They were very high, and allowed the operator at the console to reach all the controls while having an unobstructed view the screen. Unfortunately, they were too high for him to climb into with his hands shackled against his body. "Doctor, I've a bit of a problem here," he observed mildly.

The Doctor turned, seeing what he meant. "Easily fixed," he replied. He reached over and switched off the power source, causing Jason to look up in shock. "Doctor, are you sure—?"

The Time Lord gave him a steady look. "Jason, we've just watched you save my life nearly a half dozen times on Eldeberon. Yes, I'm sure."

"Sorry," the Prince said self-consciously. "It's been hard these last few weeks. Everybody's terrified of me doing just this…" He pulled his hands free with conspicuous ease. The shackles dropped, dangling from the chain at his waist. A second later, they fell, chain and all, to the floor. "Oh, that feelsgood," he sighed happily.

"Yes, well, just don't tell anyone I did that," his friend said conspiratorially.

"I'm glad we're back on the same side, Doctor," Jason said seriously.

"As am I," the Time Lord replied as he took a seat and checked over the console.

Jason gave a small smile. "At the risk of inflating your ego further," he said mildly, "you're the last person I'd want as an enemy. I'd lose. I have no illusions to the contrary."

The Doctor gave him stunned look. "I'm going to assume that was meant as a compliment."

"It was. Okay, end of the accolades. We have work to do, don't we?" Jason turned to the screen. "If you don't mind, I'll watch from here. I need to revert. I haven't been able to since I was arrested. My energy field is a mess." He immediately returned to his true form.

"You still need to restabilize?" the Doctor asked with a note of surprise.

"Those wretched things don't just throw off my equilibrium, they play havoc with my energy levels," Jason explained. "And the forcefield isn't set correctly. Only the barrier generator in court is working properly."

This explained a great deal in the Doctor's mind. Little wonder his friend looked so drained the first time he saw him. As the Alterran stretched out his long tendrils in all directions, his appearance suddenly struck the Time Lord as amusing.

"What's so funny?" Jason wanted to know.

"I'm sorry," the Time Lord said apologetically. "It's just occurred to me. You look like a giant alien thistle when you do that." To his relief, the Alterran also laughed at this observation.

Jason opened his sensors fully, drinking in the energy flooding the room from the Matrix of Time. "Wow, this thing kicks out some serious power," he said, clearly impressed.

The Doctor continued to watch his friend in a combination of amusement and sorrow. If his efforts to clear him of the charges failed, the Alterran would lose the freedom to transmute at will permanently, which for him would be worse than a death sentence.

"I wish I knew exactly what we're looking for," Jason said finally, his voice noticeably stronger. Without turning, he was able to redirect his line of vision by simply using a different set of sensors, the crystals surrounding his body changing in brightness as he turned his gaze to look at the Doctor.

Anyone else would have been completely thrown by this. The Doctor, however, did not even bat an eye, and met his friend's gaze steadily. He was the only non-Alterran in whose presence Jason had ever been comfortable enough around to revert to his true form on a regular basis. Because of this familiarity, the Time Lord had learned, among other things, how to read the Alterran's body language.

"I've a feeling it's something obvious," the Doctor replied, returning his attention to the controls. "So obvious, in fact, that we can't see it." He pulled out a sheaf of paper and looked over the symbols covering them, his hands manipulating the controls at the same time. "Now, Eustis gave me the time coordinates of the Cardinal's fall, so if I can just zero this in…Ah! Yes, here we go."

The screen came to life and Jason was amazed to see the overview of the whole of the Capitol on Gallifrey. He moved closer to the console as the Doctor continued to manipulate the controls, zeroing in on Cardinal Wythe's exact location. "Got him!" he said triumphantly.

o

"_Young man, this is not the time or place to be pestering me with theories," the Cardinal was saying. He was walking quickly down a corridor, not even bothering to look back at the youth dogging his heels._

"_Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," the cadet replied_. _He was considerably smaller than the taller, more imposing figure of the High Councilor he was pursuing and the fact that he kept his head down the whole time made him look as though he were paying homage to a deity. "It's just we were learning about your work in temporal transcendentalism. I thought you might let me interview you for my theses."_

_Wythe sighed heavily and stopped at the top of a flight of steps. He turned back to his relentless pursuer. "Young man, I'm already late for a High Council meeting. If you wish to talk to me, make an appointment. I am not in the habit of giving interviews in corridors."_

_The Cardinal turned sharply back to descend the stairs. His feet seemed to get tangled in the hem of his long robe and he fell headlong down the flight of steps. Behind him, the cadet stood watching, a satisfied smile coming to his face._

o_  
_

The Doctor heard Jason make a small squeak and froze the image. The Alterran's body was rippling with color, a clear sign that he was startled. "What did you see?"

"_I know him,"_ Jason replied in a horrified whisper. "Play it back, slower. And watch Wythe's feet."

The Doctor did as instructed. "Alright. He turns here…" he said as the image slowly shuttled forward. "Then it looks like his feet get tangled…" He zoomed in closer and froze the image. A tendril was snaking its way from under the cadet's robes to the High Councilor's. As the imaged shuttled forward, they could just make out as the tendril tangled in Wythe's feet, tripping him.

The Doctor froze the image again. "Jason, who is that?" he asked finally.

"Mission Coordinator Trevor," came the disbelieving reply. "I haven't seen him in…years." Jason turned his gaze back to the screen. "Play the rest of it."

o_  
_

_The Cardinal fell headlong down the stairs._

_The man Jason identified as Trevor slowly descended the steps and stood over the moaning Time Lord sprawled at the bottom. He knelt down, took the stunned Wythe's head in his hands and then smashed it hard against the tiled floor. There was an audible crack, which could have been tile, bone, or perhaps both. He then went on to break one of the helpless man's arms and the bones in both legs and before finally screaming, "Help! Somebody, help me!"_

_The first to answer the call was one of the Chancellory guard. The apparently panicked youth ran up to him. "Help me, please! It's the Cardinal! He's fallen down the stairs. Please, you've got to help. I think he's dying!"_

_The guard was already calling for medical assistance and then turned back to calm the apparently hysterical cadet. A group of others appeared in response to this commotion. More guards came to remove onlookers as the medical team took the unconscious Cardinal away. In the midst of all this activity, the cadet vanished._

o


	45. Connect The Dots

**CHAPTER 45**

**CONNECT THE DOTS**

Jason had returned to his human form without realizing and stood staring at the screen, revolted and horrified by what he had just seen. "It's a wonder he didn't regenerate," he observed in a horrified voice. "That was…brutal."

"He needed him out of the way a long time," the Doctor replied, leaning back in his chair.

"Yes, but there was no need to be so…sadistic," the Alterran said in disgust.

The Doctor looked over at his friend, who still had his eyes fixed on the screen. Had he not learned the whole story behind the incident at Tri Global, he would have said his own shooting was equally sadistic. "Well, now we know the Cardinal's fall was no accident," he said at last.

"Yes. But we can't prove who did it," Jason pointed out.

The Doctor gave him a puzzled look. "We've just seen who did it."

"No, Doctor, we've seen an _Alterran _do it," Jason corrected sharply. "Just because I said it looks like Trevor doesn't mean it was. I could just as easily've done it taking on his appearance."

The Doctor fixed him in a piercing stare. "Did you do it?" he asked in a serious voice.

Jason was horrified. "No!" Then he saw an amused smirk on his friend's face and realized he was joking. He closed his eyes, but could not keep an amused smile coming to his face. "Doctor, don't do that! I'm trying to be serious."

"If you get any more serious, you'll make a bout of melancholia look like exuberance," the Time Lord observed. "Anyway, I had to ask." He threw a quick glance back at the screen. "Well, we know _somebody_ took Wythe's place."

"Yes. Who's to say they didn't do the same with Trevor? If they're warped enough to pull something this bizarre, I wouldn't put that past them."

"You've lost me."

Jason gave his friend an apologetic look. "I'm not really free to take on _any_ form I choose. Taking on another's imprinted form isn't encouraged. And taking on the imprinted appearance of…well, those in power like myself is illegal."

"Really?" The Doctor considered, and then drew a deep breath. "Alright, just for the sake of argument, let's say that it is an unknown third party. What do the three of you have in common?"

"I have no idea about Wythe. I didn't know anything about that temporal damper being installed on the _ARGO_, let alone that he oversaw the installation."

"I rather suspected that from your reaction," his friend replied mildly. "And Trevor?"

"Yes, Trevor. He and I have quite a lot in common," the Prince replied thoughtfully. "We're from the same planet, share the same Royal house, were in the diplomatic corps together—"

"_Were?"_ the Doctor broke in.

Jason cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. "Something else in common. He, um, had a breakdown of some kind right around the time of my first Ambassadorial tour—and we both know how _that_ ended." He gave a wry smile. "I'm afraid I don't know all the details. I was in the middle of a breakdown myself after that."

"Because of your…kidnapping…" the Doctor said softly. His eyes narrowed and he stared into space, lost in thought. Seeing this, Jason's eyes narrowed too and he cocked his head, studying his friend closely. He'd obviously thought of something. "Well…?" he prompted, bringing his friend out of his daze.

"I've just remembered something…odd," the Doctor replied in a slightly surprised voice. "It happened while you were still recovering."

The frown on the Alterran's face deepened. "What did?"

"The High Council was _concerned _about my involvement with the Argonauts."

Jason gave a snort of disapproval in response. "I'll bet they were."

"The Emperor straightened them out before it came to anything. But the one who contacted me about it…was Cardinal Wythe," the Doctor informed thoughtfully. "I was too annoyed to give it that much thought at the time. Now it occurs to me to wonder why it wasn't the Chancellor." He turned a questioning look in his friend's direction.

"This is great," Jason moaned, shaking his head. "Instead of answers, we're just coming up with more questions."

"We need to go over this a step at a time," the Doctor said logically turning back to his notes. He shuffled from one page to the next as Jason climbed into the chair beside him.

"Okay, let's start with the fall. That put the real Wythe out of commission." The Alterran pulled a pad and pen out of thin air and scribbled this down.

The Doctor gave him a sideways glance. "You've gotten back into the habit rather quickly," he remarked amusedly.

The Prince looked up and grinned. "Give me a break, Doctor. I haven't been able to do this for weeks." He finished writing his notation and looked up again. "What next?"

"Let's do this chronologically, starting with your meeting with the fake Wythe."

The Doctor pulled up the meeting and let it play through, asking suddenly, "What were you working on when he asked you to take this assignment?"

"Oh, that." Somehow, it didn't seem as important anymore. "I was supposed to track down the ring leader of a black market operation in the Republic," Jason replied matter of factly.

The Doctor scowled. "What kind of black market? Currency, trade goods, that sort of thing?"

"No. State secrets. Trade agreements. Military and strategic implementation plans…"

The Time Lord gave him a knowing look. "An information broker, perhaps?"

Jason caught his breath, his eyes going wide. "The Benefactor," he whispered. "My God, it was right in front of me."

"Yes," the Doctor grinned. "Obvious, wasn't it?"

The Alterran suddenly seemed to come out of his daze. "Okay, time to connect the dots," he announced. "Are we dealing with three players, or one acting as all three?"

"That is a very good question," the Doctor replied. "And here's another. How did he know about the prison ship so quickly?"

"Yes…" Jason said thoughtfully, his eyes focused in the distance. "According to Fitzhugh, the Glyateven were contacted about the ship's location by someone using _my_ name."

"Yes. And the Benefactor told me that he was the one to do it."

"So along with our other questions, we have this one. How did the imposter know the location to send me to if the Glyateven didn't contact him?"

"Seems more likely the takeover and the destination were prearranged, doesn't it?"

"Yes. Seems like it."

"Giving our puppeteer ample opportunity to get _you_ involved before contacting anyone with the proposal on how to retrieve the missing prisoners," the Doctor concluded.

Jason shook his head in amazement. "The planning that went into this is nothing short of phenomenal," he observed in awe. "_Why?_ What did I ever do to deserve this?"

"I'm not sure it's so much what you did as much as what you were about to do," the Doctor remarked. "You may've been closer to finding out the source of the leak than you realized."

"How? I'd scarcely started. I didn't even have a starting point yet."

The answer came to the Doctor immediately, but he knew it wasn't what his friend wanted to hear. "Who else knew about this other than yourself?" he asked mildly.

Jason was clearly appalled and stiffened involuntarily. "Doctor, you're not suggesting that one of my own people is behind this?"

"Have you another explanation?"

"No. But I'd like to think there is one." Jason considered the implications a moment and turned back to the screen, all business. "What's next?"

"Let's just go over these extracts one at a time and see if anything jumps out at us," the Time Lord suggested.

Jason threw a concerned look over at the door. "How long do we have in here?" he asked. "This could take hours."

The Doctor gave him a broad smile. "That's one of the nice things about the Matrix room. We're outside of normal space/time."

"I hope you packed a lunch," Jason said sardonically.

The Doctor ignored him and brought up the initial contact with the Glyateven. "Nothing there I could see," he sighed when it ended, consulting his notes for the next one.

"How did he know about that?" Jason asked suddenly.

"What?"

"TWO took a shot at me, and the Benefactor reminded him about it later. How did he know about it? I never told him."

"No, but you told Wythe," the Doctor reminded. "Just after it happened, as I recall."

Jason's eyes lit up. "That's right, I did!" He turned to the screen. "You can't access that, can you? That was in the security logs."

The Doctor grinned. He had already played one of the security logs without his friend even realizing that he should not have been able to. "I took the liberty of downloading the logs into the archive before today's session."

"Well now, aren't you the clever little Time Lord," Jason remarked amusedly.


	46. One Step At A Time

**CHAPTER 46**

**ONE STEP AT A TIME**

After reviewed the recording, Jason asked the Doctor to play all the security logs. They watched in silence as one after another played out. It wasn't until they reached his report on the Doctor's presence on Eldeberon that Jason noticed something else.

"Hang on, back that up," he said, sitting up a little straighter. "What did he just say?"

The Doctor scowled and rewound the recording.

o

"_For the Doctor's sake as well as your own, do not attempt contact," the false Wythe advised._

"_What!" Jason exclaimed._

"_You wanted to rein in the Triad, didn't you? Well, this is your perfect opportunity. The Doctor will do all in his power to stop them, correct?"_

o

"You wanted to rein in the Triad," Jason repeated thoughtfully. He turned to the Doctor, who had a questioning look on his face. "That's almost verbatim what I said to the Benefactor. He even asked me if I was successful in reining them in."

The Doctor sat back in his chair. "I'm beginning to see a pattern developing."

"Yes. It's looking more and more like one major player acting as three," Jason agreed.

"Let's see what else we can find." The Doctor turned back to the controls.

"Doctor, did you notice that after you broadcast that I was dead, there were no more messages from the fake Wythe?"

"No, now that you mention it. But as our friend Fitzhugh would point out, he'd already told you the extraction team was coming. Did he really need to call again?"

"Yes, to verify that they'd actually arrived. The mission wasn't completed. He should've called when I didn't send confirmation," Jason informed. "He told me—what was it? Three… four days before they finally turned up? But he never contacted me again. Ever. That's why I went straight to Gallifrey to confront him."

The Doctor gave him a startled look. More than three months had passed since the destruction of Eldeberon. "Hang on a minute, Jason. Are you telling me you've been locked up all this time?" he asked in an appalled tone.

"You didn't know?"

"No. I only arrived that first day of the inquiry."

Jason's eyes glazed over as he remembered how he felt that first day seeing the Doctor in the gallery and knowing he was there to— He closed his eyes, giving way to an involuntary shudder. "Yes. Back when you believed…" His voice trailed off and he shuddered again.

"We agreed not to dwell on that," the Doctor reminded guiltily.

"No, you're right," the Alterran said quickly, getting hold of himself. "Where were we? Oh, yes, I was never contacted by our imposter."

"Yes. I think that's because he believed you were already dead." The Doctor paused. "You know, I think we _are_ dealing with just one person. That whole story about being partners—that was just the final entry in his version of things."

"His version of things?"

"Everything then and now points to you as being the one behind it all. If you'd actually died when I said you did, the blame would've been placed squarely on _your_ shoulders. The only reason I believed what the Benefactor told me in the first place was because he thought you were dead. There didn't seem any reason for him to lie like that," the Doctor said reflectively. "I was supposed to be left alone in that interrogation room. I can't help wondering if the man who suddenly appeared out of nowhere was supposed to help me escape. Then I'd be free to confirm the _illusion _asthe truth because I stupidly believed _him_ and wouldn't listen to the real truth that you were trying so desperately to tell me."

"We weren't going to dwell on that, Doctor," Jason reminded with a small smile, receiving a sideways glance in reply.

Jason sat back and thought a moment. "He thought I was dead, but he didn't seem all that surprised to see me, did he?" He looked up at the screen. "Would you bring up the extract from the engine room?" he requested. "Something happened that I didn't remember."

"You're the director," the Doctor replied, checking through his notations to find the correct setting. "At what point?"

"Just before the Benefactor leaves."

o

_The screen flashed and suddenly the Benefactor was making his way across the walkway._

_The Doctor leaned over the railing. "Benefactor!"_

_The Benefactor looked up and laughed. "Doctor!" Jason arrived. "And the late Ambassador Krystovan!"_

"_Benefactor, stop!" the Doctor called. "You don't know what you're doing."_

"_Really?" the Benefactor called back. "I thought everything was working out perfectly."_

"_This ship will never take the strain of a powered assent," Jason pointed out. "If you try, it'll crack like an egg. You'll blow yourself and half the countryside to atoms."_

"_You know, Ambassador, that was the plan from the beginning."_

"_What?" the baffled Jason asked. He looked over at the Doctor to see a look of thunder on his face. Before he could say anything, a muffled thud shook the room, throwing him off balance and back against the wall._

_The Benefactor looked up and waved. "Good bye, Doctor! Give my regards to the High Council!"_

o

"There! Freeze it!" Jason cried excitedly, pointing at the screen and practically jumping from his seat. He studied the frozen image on the screen. "I was trying to keep from being thrown out of the room. _That's_ why I didn't see it. Doctor, look how the light just catches his eyes."

The eyes of the robed man seemed as if they were glowing a bright blue. The light illuminated something else and the Doctor zoomed in closer, revealing the face of the man looking up at him.

"Trevor," Jason said in a small voice. "That's why he called me Ambassador." He sat back and sagged, wishing it were anyone else. He got hold of himself and asked, "Can you follow him after he leaves the room?"

The Time Lord gave him a broad smile. "Two minds of a single thought," he said happily. He zoomed out and resumed playback.

o

_The Benefactor looked up and waved. "Good bye, Doctor! Give my regards to the High Coun cil!" So saying, he charged to the archway beneath them and vanished, cackling the whole time. He continued down the corridor, winding his way through the ship, ignoring the thuds and bangs going on around him. He reached the transmat station, dialed in a code and hit the activation switch. He pulled back his hood and grinned evilly as he faded from the ship. "Good bye, your Majesty," he said bitterly._

o

Jason raised his eyebrows and sat back upon hearing this. "Majesty?" he repeated quietly.

The Doctor was busy manipulating the controls. "Hang on, I may be able to follow him," he said without looking up. "So long as the TARDIS is in that sector, we should be able to…Ah, got him!" He looked up expectantly.

o

_Trevor materialized on a transmat platform in a small spacecraft and moved to the single command chair in the forward compartment. He sat down, pulled a covering from the control panel and started powering up the craft, which had been hidden on the surface of the Eldeberon's second moon. He looked out expectantly at the planet below._

"_Not long," he said impatiently. "Not long at all."_

_Just as the computer alerted him that it was powered up and ready for launch, the surface of the planet flared, the mushroom cloud blossoming on the surface, followed by the fireball that destroyed all life on the planet. Trevor watched all this in awe, being so transfixed by the devastation he had wrought_ _that he failed to notice the ARGO streaking away from the planet's surface. _

"_A fitting end," he said admiringly. "Who says you can't change the future?" Then he lifted off from the moon's surface, setting course out of the system._

o

The Doctor was struggling with the controls and finally sat back in defeat. "I've lost him," he said in a disappointed tone. "He went in the opposite direction of the _ARGO_. Once he was out of range of the TARDIS the Matrix lost track of him."

"Did you notice that covering he pulled off the console?" Jason observed thoughtfully. "That was the window dressing for the transmissions from our fake Wythe."

The Doctor turned sharply back to the screen, rewinding the extract to the point Jason mention. "Well, would you look at that," he said softly. "All the way down to the Seal of Rassilon on the back wall."

"Yes," the Prince replied. "He'd know how to set the stage. He was a Mission Coordinator a long time."

"I am curious about on thing, Jason," the Doctor said hesitantly. "Didn't you find it…well, curious that there was no time lag in you communications with Wythe?"

The Alterran actually laughed. "Doctor, I would've found it curious if there had been," he replied. "I thought I was talking to a genuine Time Lord. How difficult would it be for _you_ to set up a real time interface?"

"Yes, point taken," his friend replied mildly, turning back to the screen.

Jason followed his gaze. "Why your Majesty? What did he mean?" he said in bewilderment. "And where he is now?"

"What?" The Doctor caught his breath, turning sharply to the Alterran who seemed lost in a fog. "Jason, do you realize what you've just said? I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner!" He struck himself on the forehead in annoyance.

"What…?" the Prince finally came out of his daze, the significance still lost on him.

The Time Lord gave him a piercing look. "Jason, what if he's _here?_"

Jason sat in a stunned silence, this thought having never crossed his mind. As if things weren't bad enough now he had to worry about Trevor manipulating his trial. Could things get any worse? This thought had scarcely crossed his mind when the door to the Matrix room suddenly opened.

Yes, things definitely could get worse.


	47. Busted

**CHAPTER 47**

**BUSTED**

The Doctor and Jason exchanged a guilty look before turning to see Eustis enter the room. "Are you sure it's wise leaving the guard on the opposite side of the door, Doctor?" he asked as he crossed to the console.

Jason groaned audibly. He was sitting on the far side of the console and was partially hidden behind the Doctor. He threw a quick glance to his bindings that were still in a heap on the floor. There was no way he could get them back on without Eustis seeing. The Doctor was having similar thoughts and gave him an apologetic look.

"Busted," the Alterran observed quietly. He clasped his hands together and leaned on the console, waiting for the inevitable reaction.

The Doctor sat up, turning to Eustis just as he arrived at the console. "I didn't want him getting in the way," he said at last. "Guards have a tendency to do that."

Eustis' eyes were as wide as saucers when he saw the Alterran was free of his bindings and took an alarmed step back. Seeing this, Jason sighed heavily, putting a hand under his chin and leaning on his elbow. "I realize everyone thinks I'm some kind of deranged lunatic with homicidal tendencies," he said in an almost bored tone, "but, please, give me _some_ benefit of the doubt."

The Cardinal stood staring, and again found himself questioning his decision to appoint the Doctor as defense council.

"We have a theory," the Doctor said suddenly, bringing the stunned Inquisitor back to reality.

"Theory?" Eustis repeated dully.

"Yes. Would you like to hear it? Or would you like Jason to perform some parlor tricks first?" the Doctor asked coldly. He watched as the Inquisitor finally got control of himself and turned an annoyed scowl in his direction. Beside him, Jason quietly prompted, "Doctor, eyes."

Eustis frowned and looked at the Alterran in bewilderment. "Eyes?"

"Yes, Eustis," the Doctor grinned. "Yours are brown."

"I am aware of that," came the irritated reply.

"Well, the man that we're after is an Alterran and has blue eyes." The Doctor nodded in the Prince's direction. "Like Jason and every other member of the Royal Bloodline."

"Blue eyes?" Eustis was at a loss as to where this was going. "That's your theory? You're looking for a shape-shifter with blue eyes. Isn't that rather pointless?"

"Cardinal, I can't change my eye color," Jason informed matter of factly. "No matter what form I or any other Alterran takes, they're always the same. They're just a disguised version of our sensors."

The Inquisitor gave him a baffled look, and threw a questioning look in the Doctor's direction. "Sensors?" he said in bewilderment. This reaction caused Jason to groan and he buried his head in arms on the console in utter disbelief. The Doctor gave him a sympathetic look. "I think it's parlor trick time," he said quietly.

"Are you sure he won't panic?" the Alterran asked knowingly as he sat up again.

Eustis drew himself to his full height. "Are you referring to me?" he asked indignantly.

"Yes," came the unrepentant reply. "You're already on the verge of panic, and I'm just sitting here. Now the Doctor wants me to revert to my true self and I'm not sure you can handle it at close quarters."

The bluntness of this response startled the Time Lord. He had to take stock of his feelings in the matter, realizing that he was giving in to his baser emotions rather than looking at the facts in the detached manner that was synonymous with his race. Eustis drew a deep breath and got hold of himself. "You're quite right, your highness," he said apologetically. "I haven't been acting very impartial, have I?"

Jason exchanged a dubious look with the Doctor before climbing down from his chair. He moved slightly away from the console and returned to his true form. He didn't have to look at the Inquisitor's face to pick his reaction, his sensors having registered his body going rigid and his body temperature changing a full degree.

"It wasn't some monster chosen at random you saw in the extracts, Cardinal. This is how I truly appear," the Alterran stated flatly. He gave his stunned audience several seconds to take it in before returned to his human appearance. "This imprinted form is how I _chose_ to appear. I don't even have to think when I change between the two. It's automatic." A sudden thought struck him and he caught his breath, turning to the Doctor and leaning on the console as he spoke. "Which is probably why Trevor only used one other form."

The Doctor scowled. "One other? He was playing three parts."

"Yes, but he only had to change as Wythe. He used his imprint for the Benefactor. All he had to do was hide his face," Jason pointed out excitedly. "Clothes are a lot easier than a complete metamorphosis and they take less energy. And if he added the disguise to his imprint, it wouldn't take any effort at all."

"Really? That's very interesting," the Doctor replied thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair.

Eustis listened to this exchange in amazement. Could these really be the same individuals that he'd seen at each other's throats in the extracts? There were several chairs along the back wall and he pulled one over to the console and sat down. "I think I should hear this theory of yours, Doctor," he said finally.

**oOo END PART FOUR oOo**


	48. Part Five: I Was Hoping To Avoid This

**PART FIVE****  
NOT QUITE A CONTINUANCE**

**CHAPTER 48**

"**I WAS HOPING TO AVOID THIS."**

After spending the equivalent of two days in the Matrix room, Jason was of the opinion that time moved at a Time Lord's bidding. Somehow, the Doctor had managed to coordinate their exit with the exact time court was due to reconvene. Within minutes of leaving the Matrix archive, he was back in the prisoner's dock listening to the Doctor request a continuance. Since they had already explained their theory to Eustis, this was strictly a formality.

Or so they thought.

"If you could present your specifics," the Inquisitor replied calmly.

"There will be no continuance," a voice from the gallery announced.

Jason actually jumped and gave the Doctor a stricken look. "I don't like the sound of that," he muttered darkly.

"Nor I," the equally stunned Doctor replied.

All heads turned as the Chancellor rose from his seat. "This trail will not be delayed any further because of the Doctor's ridiculous theories," he announced.

Eustis was on his feet, beside himself with rage. "That's not your decision to make, Chancellor!" he snapped angrily.

The Prince tugged on the Doctor's sleeve. "Does he have the authority to do that?" he asked worriedly.

"I was wondering the same thing myself," his friend replied as he sat down. "Can you make out if he's our man or not?" he asked as the battle raged on.

"No," Jason replied regretfully, shaking his head. "And I can't alter for distance with the barrier operating."

"Here, try these."

Jason knew he should not be surprised when the Doctor abruptly handed him a pair of opera glasses. He put them to his eyes and studied the man closely. "I have good news and bad news," he said as he lowered the glasses. "Good news, he hasn't got blue eyes. Bad news, that means he really is the Chancellor."

"Wonderful," the Doctor sighed. He closed his eyes and sat back in his chair.

It was all too apparent that the Chancellor believed Trevor to be the Prince's accomplice rather than the orchestrator of the conspiracy. When he threatened to have Eustis removed from the case, Jason came to a very difficult decision. Well, the decision wasn't all that difficult, it was the consequences that were going to be a bit of a mess. "That's torn it," he stated flatly and gave his friend an apologetic look. "I was hoping to avoid this."

Before the Doctor could ask what he meant, the Alterran was reaching into his pocket. At first, he thought he was returning the opera glasses. Then he saw the recall disk in his hand.

"I knew you'd still have it," Jason said triumphantly. He looked his friend in the eye, activating the disk. "I'm sorry," he said and vanished from the room.

"Jason, no!" The Doctor made a grab for his hand, but it was already too late. He ended up grabbing at thin air. He got to his feet, cursing under his breath. Total chaos suddenly erupted around him and he completely ignored it, heading straight for the door.

"Doctor!"

He turned back at Eustis' call.

"Where are you going?" the Inquisitor demanded, brushing the Chancellor aside as he moved across the room. He didn't even attempt to reestablish order, concentrating on the immediate problem of his escaped prisoner.

"I'm going after him," the Doctor called, but could not make himself heard over the rising noise. He turned to the guard beside him, took the staser from his belt, fired it into the air and handed it back before the astonished man knew what happened.

The room was instantly silent.

"If this is how the High Council of Time Lords behaves in a crisis, then heaven help the universe!" he thundered disapprovingly. "And _you,_ Chancellor, are the cause. I hope you're pleased with yourself."

The rebuke had the desired effect. The mollified Time Lords exchanged guilty looks but did not leave, uncertain what to do next.

"Now, Eustis," the Doctor said in a normal voice. "I should think it's obvious Jason's gone to the _ARGO_."

"He'll never clear the hangar." This was Captain Reinhardt, who had come up beside the Doctor during the commotion.

The Doctor turned and was surprised to see a look of concern on the officer's face. He seemed the only other person in the room who actually cared about Jason's wellbeing. "I'm sure he's already aware of that," he replied gently. "He's just frightened."

"_He's_ frightened!" This was Fitzhugh, who had finally recovered his voice.

The Doctor glared at him but chose not to respond directly, knowing that he would probably regret anything he said. "I have to talk to him," he said finally and turned on his heel, vanishing from the room before anyone could stop him.

* * *

As the Doctor suspected, Jason was in the _ARGO. _As soon as he arrived, he ordered shields up and defense systems activated. While this trapped him inside the ship, it also prevented everyone else from boarding. He was at the main console entering a program into the computer. Every so often he would glance up at the main screen displaying the activity in the hangar outside.

Within minutes of his arrival, alarms sounded in the hangar. Then guards started pouring in from every direction, surrounding the ship. It was very impressive, completely expected, and in no way a deterrent to his plans, Jason reflected. Then the computer announced an incoming hail and he knew what it would be before he even acknowledged it.

"Do not try to lift off. The hangar has been sealed. Surrender now…"

He stopped listening after that, concentrating on the program and getting it completed in time. The Doctor would come charging after him at any moment.

It was inevitable—and he was counting on it.

While the computer was processing his entries, Jason leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms high above his head. He noticed his was still in his court clothes and immediately transmuted, changing into the casual clothes he preferred and purring with delight at how wonderful it felt to be able to transmute at will again.

The Doctor came storming into the hangar at that moment, Eustis at his heels. He started toward the _ARGO,_ only to be stopped by the guards, who refused to let him pass. Jason scowled and turned up the volume on the external mike. "Don't you understand?" came the Doctor's voice through the speakers, "I have to talk to him."

"What good do you think that will do?" came a voice from behind him. The Doctor turned to see Cardinal Wythe walking slowly into the hangar. "He's beyond reason."

"No, Cardinal, he's afraid," the Doctor stated bluntly. "Why can't any of you see that?"

"Doctor, you can't seriously believe these are the actions of a rational man," Wythe retorted.

The Doctor gave him a look that was a combination of amazement and outrage. "He's fighting for his life! When you fell down those stairs, you were near death. Wouldn't it've been easier to just regenerate rather than go through months of painful recovery?"

The Cardinal gave him a stunned look but had no reply.

"You chose to stay as you are. Why?" the Doctor demanded. "It's because you knew this version of yourself would die and be lost forever. Is that reasonable? Is anyone reasonable when their life is at stake?"

Wythe exchanged glances with Eustis, who nodded his agreement. This was truer than any of them cared to admit. Wythe waved a hand at the guards. "Let him pass," he ordered.

As the Doctor approached the _ARGO_, he wondered exactly what Jason was trying to accomplish, or even if he were trying to accomplish anything. No, he concluded. The Alterran had something in mind, some emergency plan that he'd clearly worked out in his head. His last words verified that. _"I was hoping to avoid this."_ Now if he could only discover that "this" was.

"Jason, I know you can hear me," the Doctor called out.

Jason touched a button. "Yes, Doctor, I can hear you. Come to see me off?"

The Doctor scowled disapprovingly. "You're not going anywhere, and you know it," he replied. "The hangar's been sealed."

"Doctor, before you get to the part where you try and negotiate with me to give myself up," the Prince said calmly, "I'd like to remind you that I've been trained in these situations, too. If I have to spend the rest of my life caged up, I'd rather it be in the comfort of my own ship."

"Will you at least let me come in and talk to you?" the Doctor asked reasonably. "I'd rather not stand here shouting at the ship's hull."

"And lower my shields? Nice try. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to my cabin to take a nice hot bath." Jason made sure there was an audible pop as he cut the mike, knowing this would infuriate the Doctor, which it did. An angry growl rose in his throat. He turned on his heel and stormed for the exit, Eustis following after him.

"Doctor, where are you going now?" he asked helplessly, his white and silver Inquisitor's robes making it difficult for him to keep up.

"To my TARDIS," came the unexpected reply. "If he thinks he can keep me out of there, he has another thing coming." The Doctor turned on Eustis before he could respond, saying, "And before you ask, no. I won't take a guard with me. The last thing he needs is to have someone shooting at him."

"Doctor, be realistic…"

"Besides, the stasers are useless against him, anyway," the Doctor said offhandedly as he pushed open the door to the room in which the TARDIS stood patiently awaiting his return.

"What!" Eustis exploded. "How long have you known that?"

"Eustis, the question shouldn't be how long have I known. It should be why didn't you?" the Doctor challenged. "The Alterrans have been our allies for millennia. Yet during the course of this inquiry your ignorance surrounding even the most basic information about them has been nothing short of staggering," he reproved sharply as he unlocked the door.

"Doctor, that's not exactly fair," Eustis replied somewhat defensively. "You've had the advantage of a one-on-one relationship for several centuries."

"Did you even bother to read anything I gave you?" the Doctor replied sharply. "It was all in there. And still, you watched those extracts and learned nothing. Did you think that story of a personal forcefield was genuine?"

Without realizing, Eustis found himself nodding.

"Alterrans are a silicon-based lifeform, crystalline. How else do you think he achieved the conversion rush? They _absorb_ radiation. They thrive on the stuff. Stasers were designed to damage carbon-based lifeforms." Pausing, he added offhandedly, "If you'd really wanted to threaten him, you should've used an old fashioned projectile weapon."

"What! But the guards—"

"He could've overpowered his guards at any time when the barrier was off," the Doctor snapped. "But he didn't. And do you know _why?_"

"You know I don't," the Inquisitor replied helplessly.

"It's because he would've had to hurt them," the Doctor stated flatly. "Jason's funny like that. The only one he doesn't seem to have a problem with in that department is me," he added in a slightly bewildered tone. He turned and vanished into the TARDIS. A few seconds later, it dematerialized.


	49. What're You Planning?

**CHAPTER 49**

"**WHAT'RE YOU PLANNING?"**

Jason was leaning back in the command chair, his eyes closed, his feet crossed and perched on the console in front of him. Around him floated the soothing tones of the music he had selected for his listening pleasure. The look on his face was one of serene contentment.

A discordant sound came through the air as the TARDIS materialized near the door leading to the interior of the ship. The Alterran didn't even move as the Police Box made its appearance. A few seconds later, the Doctor was on the threshold, a look of thunder on his face.

"Bull's eye," Jason observed calmly, only half opening his eyes. "I am suitably impressed."

The Doctor gave him a disapproving scowl. "This little stun isn't going to help, Jason."

"I heard your little speech to Wythe, Doctor," the Alterran replied blandly. "Did you actually believe any of it?"

The Doctor ignored the sarcasm. "You promised me straight answers. No more games."

"Dammit, Doctor, I'm not playing games!" Jason snapped angrily. He dropped his feet from the console and stood up. "I'm innocent and you know it! But I can't prove it cooped up behind an energy barrier."

"You can't prove it cooped up in here, either," the Doctor rejoined.

"True."

There was something in the Prince's tone that put the Doctor on his guard and he stiffened involuntarily. "What're you planning?" he asked cautiously.

The Prince gave him an innocent look, sitting back down again. "What makes you think I'm planning something?"

"You're a strategist. You're always planning something," the Doctor replied bluntly.

The Alterran's eyebrows went up, a small cry of delight escaping him. "A compliment! You really _are_ worried, aren't you?" He leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head and stretching. "Maybe I just want to enjoy a little taste of freedom."

"And maybe you're just stalling."

Jason threw his head back and laughed. "You're right, I am," he replied with a smile. His voice was suddenly serious, "Okay. Straight answer time. I _do_ have a plan. You're just not going to like it very much. In fact, I can guarantee you're going to hate it."

The Doctor started across the room. "You're not planning on blasting your way out, I hope."

"No! You know me better than that!" Jason said in an appalled tone. He gave his friend a sideways look through his eyelashes, saying mildly, "I'm using you."

The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks. "What?"

"I know. That's the part you're going to hate," Jason informed repentantly. Then to the Doctor's surprise, he ordered, "Computer, restraining field, please."

The Doctor heard a slight hum and felt a tingling sensation after which he could not move. He gave the Alterran a stricken look. Although unable to move, he could still speak but could think of nothing to say.

"I am sorry, Doctor," Jason said regretfully as he got to his feet.

"This isn't going to solve anything," the Time Lord growled.

"We'll see." The Alterran headed straight for the TARDIS. "Oh yeah, and before you even try, I have primary command authority. You can't countermand my orders."

"No!" the Doctor called out desperately. "Jason, stop, please! You have to listen to me!"

It was already too late. The Prince had vanished into the Police Box, the door slamming behind him.

o

Jason strode into the control room and dove under the central control console, pulling open one of the panels. He checked the insides before giving a satisfied grunt. He then crossed to a supply closet, pulled out some cables and went back to the console, connecting them into the open panel. He was so intent on his work that he failed to notice two things. First, the scanner was on, displaying what was happening on the _ARGO_'s flight deck. Second, the inner door was slightly ajar.

The first thing could easily be explained away. The Doctor had simply left the scanner on after his arrived. The second, however, was not so easy, as there was an eye peeking through the crack of the door. It belonged to the Doctor's current traveling companion, Mel, who had been watching the confrontation on the scanner and took refuge when she saw Jason heading for the TARDIS.

Confused and terrified, she watched the Alterran tinkering under the console. She had met Jason when he was the leader of an intergalactic summit meeting. After his ship was pulled through a temporal distortion, it crashed on twentieth century earth. Mel was responsible for saving his life and had gotten to know him well enough to be shocked by his current behavior.

The Doctor had told her about the events on Eldeberon in only the vaguest terms. It was obviously upsetting to him and she was not about to push for details. One of the few details she did learn was that he and Jason had had a major falling out. From what she had just seen, it seemed more likely the Alterran had completely turned against the Doctor and was in the process of stealing the TARDIS—with her in it!

Jason climbed out from under the console and stood up, circling it and carefully checking the settings. Once satisfied all was in order, he slowly backed out the doors, playing out the cables as he went.

Mel waited a minute before sneaking back into the console room. She looked at the scanner and then into the closet from which Jason had pulled the cables. She found a silver tipped cane inside and scowled, thinking it incongruous in a storage space full of spare parts. She picked it up, testing its weight. It was solid enough and might even be considered a decent weapon in the hands of someone twice her size.

She looked back at the scanner. Jason was carefully playing out the cables, backing his way to the _ARGO_'s main control console. He got down on the floor, lying on his back and pulling open a panel. He then started plugging the cables into his own ship's computer.

The Doctor scowled as he watched this operation. "What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously. He had thought the Alterran was going to simply steal the TARDIS. Now he wasn't sure what he was planning.

Jason got up from the floor and grinned, brushing off the dust as he did so. "I'm escaping," he said happily. "Computer, cancel silent mode," he then ordered.

**"Acknowledged."**

The Prince looked at the main screen, seeing the assembled guards and others watching his craft and could not help but giggle. Were they in for a surprise! Looking down, he typed out a set of instructions before activating the mike. "Hello, out there," he said calmly. "I thought you'd like to know the Doctor made it safe and sound. Unfortunately, he's a little tied up at the moment, literally. I believe you'd consider him my hostage at this point."

He had scarcely signed off when the computer announced, "Incoming hail."

"Yes, I thought there might be one," the Prince muttered. He hit the button to immediately hear, "Your royal highness—"

"Sorry, whoever you are, no negotiations. The Doctor stays with me," Jason stated flatly. He cut the mike and hit the launch button. "Activate!"

**"Activating."**

The Doctor's eyes grew wide when he heard the TARDIS start to dematerialize.

Mel had crossed to the exterior doors and jumped when she heard this familiar sound. She turned, seeing the time rotor juddering, the lights flickering in the console room. The time machine seemed to be struggling, the dematerialization drawn out and labored.

Jason was working feverously at the main console, making minute corrections to get the ships synchronized. "Come on…come on… You can do it, baby…" he encouraged under his breath. "That's it. For me…_please_…"

The time rotor stopped juddering and started to rise and fall smoothly, the lights in the console room returning to normal.

"Yes! That's it. Come on, old girl. Don't let me down now…"

The sound of the dematerialization continued normally, but to Mel's surprise, the Police Box remained solid. Out in the hangar, and to the astonishment of all present, the _ARGO_ abruptly faded from sight.

The Doctor suddenly realized what the Prince had done. "You used the TARDIS to dematerialize the _ARGO_," he said, more than a little impressed. "I didn't think that was possible."

Jason smiled unabashedly and sat back in his chair, holding out his hands. "Programmer extraordinaire," he said proudly.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** So, how many of you were wondering where the Doctor's companion was all this time? Please, raise your hand.


	50. There's Something I Haven't Told You

**CHAPTER 50**

"**THERE'S SOMETHING I HAVEN'T TOLD YOU…"**

The Doctor knew the Time Lords would be trying to follow the TARDIS's time track, but was uncertain as to whether he should reveal it. As it turned out, he did not need to. Jason was already aware of it and said so. "I've a few tricks up my sleeve to throw them off the scent." He looked in his friend's direction. "If there's one thing I've learned from you, Doctor, it's how to make a clean getaway."

"I'm flattered," the Doctor replied sourly.

Jason gave him a disapproving look. "Now don't sulk, Doctor. It doesn't suit you in this incarnation."

Before the Time Lord could think of a suitable reply, the _ARGO _shuddered, the sound of the TARDIS materializing coming at the same time. Jason broke into a bright smile. "Excellent. That's phase one." He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He stood up, throwing several switches before ordering, "Computer, initiate phase two, current program."

**"Acknowledged."**

Jason stood motionless, his eyes glued to the controls. He sat down again, watching the monitor in the console a moment before his hands flew over the keyboard. Every few seconds, he would pause, looking at the newest data as it flashed on the screen.

Mel was still at the exterior doors. She could see Jason sitting at the computer, his eyes fixed on the monitor. When he paused and rubbed his eyes, she finally crept out of the TARDIS.

The flight deck bowed inward and the Doctor was standing at the apex of the curve. Mel was able to stay out of sight by hugging the wall behind him. "Not too close," he hissed, hoping his voice would be lost in the music still playing from the sound system. "I don't know how far this restraining field reaches." He found he could turn his head and body only slightly. If he tried to move anymore than that, he was rewarded with a nasty static shock.

His companion wisely kept her distance. She had witnessed the incident when the restraining field was turned on. Now that she was closer, she could see a slight shimmering around the Doctor's body. "Doctor, what's going on?" Mel asked helplessly.

Before the Time Lord could reply, Jason gave a triumphant cry. "Yes! That's phase two." He dove under the console, pulled out all the cables and started winding them up.

Mel nearly jumped out of her skin when the Doctor suddenly spoke in a normal tone of voice. "What brilliant strategy have you managed to pull off now?"

Jason glanced up a moment. "Don't get patronizing with me, Doctor," he replied testily. "I told you you wouldn't like it." He continued winding the cables, making straight for the TARDIS, apparently to begin phase three.

Mel was sure he would see her as he walked by, but he did not even glance in the Doctor's direction before disappearing into the Police Box. She breathed a sigh of relief and moved to stand in front of the Doctor, keeping a watchful eye on the TARDIS at the same time. "Doctor, what _is_ going on?" she asked helplessly.

"I think I'm being kidnapped," he replied in a slightly surprised tone.

"What?" Mel gasped. "Why?"

"It's a very long—" The Time Lord broke off at the sound of the TARDIS dematerializing. Mel peeked around him just in time to see the Police Box fade from sight. "Doctor, he's stolen the TARDIS!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, I was rather afraid he might," came the mournful reply.

"Why?"

"It's a very long story," the Doctor replied wearily. He took stock of his present situation and sighed heavily. "And unless you can find the switch that deactivates this restraining field, I'll have plenty of time to tell it to you."

Mel went to the console and looked over the controls. "What am I looking for?"

"See if there are any switches," the Doctor instructed. "You can try those first. If that doesn't work, we'll see if the computer will tell us."

Jason's voice suddenly came through the main entry hatch. "You talking to yourself again, Doctor?" he said as he strode onto the flight deck. "Terrible habit. First sign of—"

Mel had taken refuge beside the door at the sound of his voice. Then she panicked and swung the cane in her hand, catching the unprepared Alterran in the temple as he came through the door, knocking him senseless. The momentum of the blow sent Jason spinning and he landed face down on the deck.

"Mel, no!" the Doctor cried out helplessly, but it was already too late.

**"Activating defense mode,"** the computer announced.

"No! Cancel!" the Doctor cried out frantically. "Command designation–The Doctor!" He tried desperately to move, only to be rewarded with a painful shock when he did so.

**"Override protocol. Countermand denied."**

"Mel, drop the cane and get away from Jason before you get yourself killed," the Doctor ordered. His companion gave him a horrified look and he thundered, "Just do it!"

His companion practically threw the cane to the ground, backing away from the motionless form lying at her feet. She gave a startled cry as a restraining field abruptly came on around her. "Mel, don't move," the Doctor instructed quickly. She noticed that he seemed just as frightened as she was. _This wasn't very reassuring_, she thought. "What do we do now?" she asked fearfully.

Before the Doctor could reply, Jason moaned and stirred as he regained his senses. He tried to rise, only to roll onto his back, unable to find the strength to get to his knees. He blinked up at the ceiling as he regained his wits, putting a hand to his aching head. It came away with blood on it. "Ow," he said ironically. He blinked several times to clear his vision, seeing the Doctor still standing motionless further within the room. He struggled to sit up, putting his head in his hands. "What the hell happened?" he asked in total bewilderment, having been literally blindsided.

"Ah," the Doctor replied nervously. "There's something I haven't told you, Jason."

A little bleary eyed, the Alterran looked up and followed his gaze, seeing the terrified Mel standing several feet away, the offending weapon on the floor between them. "Mel…? How did you…?" Then he groaned again. "You were in the TARDIS!" he moaned, closing his eyes. He leaned forward, cradling his head in his hands. She had obviously been watching his confrontation with the Doctor and had thought the worst. This was becoming a common occurrence among his friends, he reflected darkly. "I should know better than to assume anything with you, Doctor," the Prince observed quietly.

"I hope that was meant as a compliment," the Time Lord replied in an uncertain tone.

A sudden thought struck him and Jason looked over at Mel in a way she found very disquieting. "Did you tell her about Eldeberon?" he asked accusingly.

"Not in detail, no."

"Not in detail," Jason repeated dully. He sighed heavily but did not rise from the floor. This was a random factor and he had to deal with it before going on. Unfortunately, he had a blinding headache and was having difficultly just sitting up. Then he wondered if Mel's crack on the skull had given him a concussion. "One complication too many," he muttered darkly, not even realizing he had spoken.

"Jason, I'll do whatever you ask," the Doctor said unexpectedly. "Just leave Mel out of this."

"What…?" Jason looked up, seeing an anxious, almost terrified expression on the Time Lord's face. His mouth dropped open in astonishment. "I can't believe what I'm hearing," he said as he struggled to his feet. He lost his balance as he came to stand in front of the Doctor and had to put out a hand, using the wall to keep from falling. "After all you've seen, all we've learned. I've been completely straight with you, Doctor, and you _still_ don't believe me," he said in an injured tone.

"You told me you weren't playing games. Now I'm in a restraining field as your hostage, which, on comparison, is better than being throttled," the Doctor replied acidly.

"Did I hurt you?" Jason demanded before the Time Lord could go on.

The Doctor blinked. "What?"

"Did I hurt you?" the Prince repeated.

"No."

"Did I threaten you? Attack you? Lie to you? Harm you in any way, shape or form?" the Alterran went on. "No. I didn't lay a finger on you. I told you you'd hate it and I was right. So don't get mad at me because I'm being honest and you don't like what I'm telling you. I've learned my lesson, Doctor. I'm never making that mistake again." He threw a quick glance in the frightened Mel's direction. "And I can't believe you could ever think that I would want to harm Mel," he said in an indignant tone. "I meant what I said. The last thing I want is to have _you_ as an enemy." He took in the Time Lord's stunned expression. "Now. Do you _still_ think I'm playing a game?"

The Doctor met his challenging gaze steadily. "No. I think you're frightened. Perhaps too frightened to trust even _me_ at this point." His words had the desired effect. He saw the Alterran's anger fade as quickly as it appeared.

"You're right. You're absolutely right," Jason admitted quietly. "Computer, shut down restraining field."

**"Acknowledged."**

The tingling sensation vanished and the Doctor found he could move again. He stretched his arms, and hunched his shoulders to get the circulation moving again. As soon as Mel realized she could move she dashed over and hugged him, whether it was for comfort or protection Jason could not tell.

"Now what?" the Doctor practically demanded.

"That's up to you. I used you to escape and I'm sorry. They didn't give me a choice," Jason said apologetically. He crossed to the command chair and dropped into it. "And contrary to what you may still be thinking; I'm not out of my mind, I'm not playing a game, and I'm not going to threaten you with grievous bodily harm if you try to leave." He closed his eyes and put a hand to his head, leaning on the console. "I'm just…_desperate_. I'm in the worst jam of my life, and I have no idea how to get out of it."

"And you want my help," the Doctor rejoined guardedly.

Jason looked up and gave him a piercing look. "No, Doctor, I _need_ your help."


	51. Where Are We?

**CHAPTER 51**

**WHERE ARE WE?**

The Doctor studied the exhausted Alterran a moment. They had spent the equivalent of two days inside the Matrix room and Jason hadn't rested at all, believing they would be granted the continuance. The Prince had gone directly to court that morning and now looked on the point of collapse. It was all too obvious that he'd been operating on sheer willpower to this point.

"Jason, you know that all you had to do was _ask_," the Time Lord said gently. "It would've been much simpler than resorting to kidnapping and piracy."

The Prince drew a deep breath, admitting, "I know. But if this went wrong, the logs would show you weren't a willing participant."

The Doctor blinked, suddenly realizing that Jason had not just been using him, he had also been protecting him. Then he realized that he had always been protecting him. However unorthodox his methods, it seemed the Prince's primary focus was to safeguard the Time Lord's life. "What about your encrypted security logs?" he asked, disengaging himself from Mel at the same time.

"I've deactivated those for the time being, just incase somebody gets the bright idea to trace the _ARGO_'s transmission source."

"Where are—?" The Doctor broke off when he looked at the main screen, giving a startled cry. Instead of a view of space, the image was of a large white room, the walls covered in roundels. "Did you…?" he asked in surprise.

Jason gave a small smile. "Yes." He had dematerialized the TARDIS from inside the _ARGO_, and then rematerialized around it, so that the _ARGO_ was now inside the TARDIS.

"You realize they can still find you using the Matrix," the Doctor pointed out.

The Prince gave him a knowing look and smiled. "Actually, they'll be able to find the TARDIS," he corrected. "We're currently inside the TARDIS. As you're so fond of saying, Doctor, the majority of Time Lords are singularly logical and have absolutely no imagination. They'll never think to look for me here. They'll think I used the TARDIS to escape the hangar, and then ditched it. Of course," he went on, "first they have to actually _find _the TARDIS, and we're currently hovering very close to a dwarf star."

The Doctor's eyes lit up. This was such a simple stratagem it was mind-boggling. "How on earth did you come up with a dwarf star? That's—inspired!" As long as they stayed near the dwarf star, the TARDIS's time signature would be untraceable.

Jason gave him a tired smile. "If I said I didn't remember, would you believe me?"

"No," Mel said, finding her voice at last. She was beginning to feel as though they had com pletely forgotten about her. "Will one of you _please_ tell me what's going on?"

The Doctor opened his mouth, but it was Jason who replied. "It's quite simple, Mel," he said in a quiet voice. "I screwed up royally and now the Time Lords want to have me executed." He received a startled squeak in reply. "So now I'm a fugitive, and you two are my hostages." He looked up at the Doctor. "Well, one of you anyway. Did they even know she was with you?"

"No, actually. One go in a Time Lord court is enough for anyone."

"Yes…" Jason replied vaguely. He had no idea what his friend meant but was too tired to ask. In fact, he looked like he could barely keep his eyes open and the Doctor took him by the shoulders. "We need to get you to bed."

"As tempting as that is…" the Alterran said, closing his eyes.

"No arguments," the Time Lord stated flatly, pulling the Prince from his seat. "You're completely exhausted and Mel has probably been good enough to give you a concussion."

"I probably deserved it," Jason muttered guiltily, allowing himself to be steered toward the door leading to the interior of the ship.

"You want me to help you, don't you?" the Doctor asked firmly.

"Yes." Jason turned back to face him. "And before you even ask, yes. I do trust you," he stated unequivocally.

The Doctor flashed a bright smile. "Good. Now that we have all that out of the way, you get some sleep while I fill Mel in on the details."

"Okay," Jason said dully. He left the flight deck and went straight to his cabin. It had been so long since he had slept soundly that he wondered if he remembered how. He entered the cabin and looked around, feeling safe for the first time in months. For several minutes, he stood gazing at the portrait of his wife and wondered if he'd ever see his Shadra again. This was not how he envisioned spending his twentieth wedding anniversary. Shaking off these dark thoughts, he went to his bath and stood beside the sunken whirlpool tub, a feeling of calm washing over him. He was never more relaxed than when he was immersed in its swirling water. "Computer, whirlpool," he said quietly.

**"Acknowledged. Activating heating unit."**

Jason stared into the water, watching as it erupted into a bubbling torrent of foam. In a blink, he was back in his true form descending into the swirling water. His sensors picked up every degree as the water grew warmer. By the time it reached the preset target temperature, he was asleep.


	52. Will He Be Alright?

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **As with other stand alone scenes, I have to admit that the bathroom scene in this chapter still tickles me quite a bit.

* * *

**CHAPTER 52**

"**WILL HE BE ALRIGHT…?"**

"Doctor, are you ever going to tell me what's going on?" Mel asked for what seemed the hundredth time. It was bad enough that everything had been completely turned on its head in a matter of minutes. One minute Jason was abducting the Doctor, stealing the TARDIS, and doing who knows what else. The next, the Doctor was agreeing to help him, sending him to bed and acting as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

After Jason went to his cabin, the Doctor had gone to the TARDIS console room to make certain it hadn't been damaged when the two ships were connected together. Then he returned to the _ARGO _and brought up the program that Jason had entered to see how he had managed to link the incompatible ships together. He had been muttering approvingly to himself ever since, sitting transfixed as the program scrolled past.

"First things first," the Time Lord said suddenly, sounding as if absolutely no time at all had past. "Computer, map," he commanded as he got to his feet. A map of the _ARGO_ appeared on screen and he gave a small satisfied sound. "Come on," he then said, heading for the interior door.

"Now where are we going?" Mel asked helplessly.

"The galley," the Doctor replied happily. "Nothing gets the gastric juices flowing better than being kidnapped."

Mel gave him a disapproving scowl but did not reply, following after him as he led the way through the ship. She was surprised when they arrived right away, having gotten used to the seemingly endless corridors of the TARDIS. The galley was larger than she expected. It had a large, oval table in the center, a counter and sink along one side. The Doctor went to a food synthesizer that was opposite and in a few minutes had their meal on the table.

"This is edible, I suppose?" Mel said dubiously. Despite the fact that the food looked as it should, she had her doubts about how it would taste after seeing it appear out of thin air.

"Absolutely," the Doctor said happily as he tucked into his lunch. He frowned when his companion continued to push her food suspiciously around the plate. "Come on, Mel. At least try some toast."

Thinking she should at least humor him, Mel took a tentative bite. To her surprise, it did not taste like blackened cardboard. It was a delicious multigrain bread, and the jam was spectacular.

"There! What did I tell you?" the Time Lord said happily. He finished his lunch and poured a second cup of tea after which he gave his companion an explanation of what was going on and why Jason was currently running from the Time Lords—and possibly everyone else in the universe. It took quite some time to tell the whole story.

"You're _sure_ he's not responsible," Mel said finally.

"Unequivocally," the Doctor replied, leaning back in his chair. "Jason and I put quite a lot together using the Matrix archive. There's no question that Trevor, acting the parts of the Benefactor and Cardinal Wythe, was the man pulling all the strings. Jason and I got completely tangled up in them."

"He must've done some job to get you two at each other's throats," Mel remarked.

"Mel, you don't know the half of it." It was at that moment the Doctor actually remembered the Alterran was somewhere onboard. "Computer, is Jason asleep?"

**"Affirmative,"** the computer replied.

"Good," the Doctor said with a relieved sigh. "He hasn't slept properly in weeks."

Mel threw a concerned look at the door. "Will he be alright on his own, do you think?"

"I don't see why not. He's got this ship wired as he own personal babysitter and guard dog."

"I just think we should check on him," his companion said worriedly.

The Doctor wasn't sure if this sudden worry for Jason's wellbeing sprang from actual concern or from apprehension after learning about what happened on Eldeberon. He decided not to argue the point and led the way to the Prince's cabin.

"There," he said grandly, holding out a hand. "Go and check, if you like. But whatever you do, Mel, _please_ don't wake him."

"I won't," Mel replied tersely as she entered the room. The interior of the cabin was not what she expected. Considering the Alterran's gregarious personality, she had imagined numerous personal items scattered around the room. It was, in fact, quite austere. The only decoration she could see was a single illuminated portrait of a very beautiful, and very regal looking woman that could only have been Jason's wife, Shadra.

Passing through the main cabin, Mel went to what she assumed was the bedroom, which was verified when she peeked through the door. The only problem was Jason wasn't in his bed. She heard the sound of the whirlpool and crossed to the door, seeing the swirling waters of the sunken tub within. Then she saw what looked like a body floating in it. "Doctor, he's drowning!"

The Doctor was through the cabin and at the door of the bath within seconds. He arrived just as Mel jumped into the tub and pulled the Alterran up out of the water. She was completely unprepared for the sight of him in his true form and screamed at the top of her voice.

This would be enough to rouse anyone from their sleep. Jason rose further out of the water, his sensors flaring. A split second later, he was in human form and falling back onto one of the benches in the tub. "I'm up! I'm up!" he gasped out, grabbing at the side of the tub to keep from going under. When he finally came fully awake, he looked at the woman beside him in bewilderment. "Mel…? What on earth are you doing in my tub?"

The Doctor immediately burst out laughing. The baffled Jason scowled over at his friend as he fell back against the counter, howling with laughter. "She thought… She thought…" After several tries, the Time Lord finally managed to squeak out, "She thought you were drowning!"

Jason's eyes lit up. He looked over at the bewildered Mel and then, to her added annoyance, he burst out laughing too.

"It's not funny!" Mel snapped angrily, causing the two to laugh even more uproariously.

Once he was able to speak, Jason explained that he preferred to sleep immersed in water, which was impossible in human form because, of course, he would drown. This was easily solved by reverting to his true self, which allowed him to sleep without fear of drowning in the process.

Mel blinked and looked him up and down. "That's what you really look like?" she asked in amazement.

Jason groaned inwardly, dreading what her reaction might be when he replied, "Yes. That's what I really look like." She gave him an astonished look and he said cautiously, "You're not going to scream again, are you?"

"No. I just…didn't expect that," Mel replied calmly.

The Doctor smiled proudly and crossed to the side of the tub, holding out a hand. "Come on. Let's get you out of there." He pulled his soggy companion from the water and she stood dripping on the tile, clearly embarrassed.

"Can you find your way back to the main entry?" Jason asked mildly. He looked down at his naked body, the lower half of which was still beneath the swirling water. "I'm not really dressed for a tour."

"You're not really dressed," the Doctor joked. "Go back to sleep. I think we can make our way back to the TARDIS without getting lost." So saying, he led his drenched companion from the room.

Jason watched them go still chuckling. Then he realized he could not remember the last time he had had a good laugh and frowned. "That's depressing," he muttered, leaning back and letting his body slide further into the warm water. He wondered if he would be able to get to sleep again. After several minutes, he concluded that he was too wide-awake to even try.

"Computer, shut down whirlpool."

**"Acknowledged."**

He reluctantly climbed from the tub and dried himself off, taking the time to consider what he actually wanted to wear before deciding on a light colored jogging suit. The Alterran looked at himself in a mirror, cocking his head to one side as he appraised his appearance. _What were the colors of the rainbow? _he thought, _Oh yes! _Red. His clothing instantly changed and he grinned, another purr of delight escaping him. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Indigo. Violet. Scotch plaid! He giggled at this one and put his hands on his hips. "What else?" he said to his reflection.

"Why don't you just go with a tie-dye and have done with it?" came the unexpected reply from the door.

Jason gave a startled cry and spun around. The Doctor was leaning on the doorjamb with his arms folded, watching him with an amused look on his face. "Having fun?"

"I was," came the truthful reply.

"I rather suspected you wouldn't go back to sleep," his friend said mildly. "And before you get all paranoid, I'm not spying on you." Jason flushed slightly upon hearing this and lowered his eyes guiltily. "Mel's gone to her room to change. When she gets back, I thought we might have a bit of a planning session."

"Planning what, exactly?"

The Doctor looked his friend up and down. "Your choice in wardrobe, for a start."

Jason's mouth dropped open. The absolute arrogance of the man amazed him sometimes. "Me!" he squeaked. "Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black?"

The Time Lord drew himself to his full height and pulled on his lapels. "I am unique," he announced with exaggerated pomposity.

The Alterran's eyes lit up. "_That_ you are!"

"Well, finally we agree on something," the Doctor replied cheerfully and turned from the door. "Now, let's see how Mel's coming along."


	53. A New Game

**CHAPTER 53**

**A NEW GAME**

Jason sat thoughtfully at the table in his conference room. He had a mug of coffee in front of him that was rapidly getting cold. The Doctor and Mel were on the other side of the table looking equally thoughtful. After much discussion, they had determined that the immediate problem was locating Trevor.

"I can think of one person who might be able to help us find him," the Prince said at last, his eyes fixed in the distance. "Not that that's any help."

"Oh? And why's that?" the Doctor asked.

"Because it's my Uncle," Jason replied. "With all that's happened, they'll never let me get anywhere near him."

The Doctor considered this. "I wonder if they'll let me see him?"

Jason looked up sharply, his eyes narrowing. "What do you mean?"

A mischievous expression and enormous smile were blossoming on the Time Lord's face. "Well, since you were nice enough to let everyone know I was less than cooperative in your escape, I might be given the benefit of the doubt," he said calmly.

His friend gave him a surprised look. "Are you going to tell them that the lovely Mel helped you escape from my psychotic clutches?"

"Something to that effect. Only not so melodramatic."

Mel giggled when the Alterran responded with an indignant snort. "How boring," he moaned playfully. Then he was completely serious again. "Okay, then what?"

"You tell me. What's the best way of smuggling you into the Imperial Palace?"

"Now _that_ is a very good question. We've got to get past security, which means getting past Tolan. And that's no mean trick." Jason sat back in his chair and considered the problem carefully. After several minutes, his eyes cleared, his face brightening as the answer came to him. _It was so simple_, he thought, a devilish smile coming to his face. "Back in a minute," he said and vanished from the room.

"He's thought of something devious," the Doctor remarked.

Mel scowled disapprovingly. "Why do you say that?"

"Because he looks exceptionally pleased with himself."

Mel's expression didn't change. "That's a little condescending, isn't it?"

"Actually, it was meant as a compliment," the Doctor replied. His companion looked less than convinced. "Mel, Jason's been trained to deceive since the day he was born. He's Alterran. It's part of his nature. The very fabric of his being."

His companion gave him a dubious look. "Now you are joking."

"You saw his true appearance," the Time Lord reminded. "The Jason you know, the human Jason, is an illusion created to deceive humanoid species in order to blend in. He's a master at it. Before he started traveling with me, he used to teach training courses. Now he leads a group that specializes in it."

"If he's that good, then why do you look so worried?" Mel asked astutely.

"Worried?" the Doctor replied defensively. His face clouded over and he sighed heavily, admitting, "Because what we're about to do is extremely dangerous. If Jason's discovered before we get to the Emperor, the game's up."

"I thought we weren't playing games anymore," came Jason's clear voice from the door.

The Doctor looked up. "Not with each other."

"Ah." The Alterran gave a wry smile as he entered the room. He had his collar of rank in his hand and set it onto the table. It was made up of several intricately carved gold and jewel incrusted seals, each bearing the insignia of one of his titles. There were two medallions attached to the front, one designating his rank in the House of Krystovan, the other his rank as Crown Prince of Tel-Shye.

Mel looked at the gleaming object in amazement. "That's beautiful," she said admiringly.

"_That_ is who I am," Jason said in a quiet reverent tone. He pointed to one of the seals. "That insignia indicates that I'm an Imperial Ambassador." He turned to the Doctor. "I want you to return it to the Emperor for me."

"This is how you're going to disguise yourself?" the Doctor said in a surprised tone.

"Yes. I'm going to hide in plain sight," the Alterran grinned. "They'll scan every inch of you a dozen times over, but they'll never think to scan this if you carry it in the open."

The Time Lord laughed at the audacity of the plan. "That is diabolically cunning!"

Jason poured himself a fresh cup of coffee and returned to the table. "And you said you weren't going to get sucked into any more of my deceptions," he reminded playfully.

"Obviously, I was wrong." To the surprise of his companion, the Doctor admitted, "I've been wrong about quite a lot of things of late."

"Well, stop the universe," the Prince replied in a mildly amazed tone. Before his friend could issue any kind of crushing reply, he asked, "Do you still have your Imperial seal?"

"I believe so. It's in the TARDIS somewhere. Why?"

"It has your identity code imbedded in it," Jason informed. "Considering all that's happened they probably won't even let you in the Palace without it."

The Doctor was already on his feet and heading for the door. "Let me see if I can find it."

Jason and Mel exchanged a dubious look. "How many decades do you think _that_ will take?" the Prince asked knowingly.


	54. Audience

**CHAPTER 54**

**AUDIENCE**

Just as Jason predicted, the moment the Doctor arrived on Alterrous he was greeted with suspicion and searched—several times, much to his annoyance. Before each search, he laid the collar on whatever surface was available in order to allow the scans to be taken. Eventually, he was taken to a holding room in the Security center of the Imperial Palace while his Imperial seal was scanned and verified—again!

"The least you could do is offer me a cup of tea!" he called indignantly through the door.

The Doctor sighed heavily and turned, taking stock of the room; a table, two chairs and a locked door. He carefully placed the gold collar he was carrying on the table, smoothing it out as if to make certain is was undamaged.

The door opened and the Doctor turned to see the head of Imperial security standing on the threshold, his face, as always, unreadable. "You really have a gift for turning things upside down, Doctor," Commander Tolan observed knowingly.

The Time Lord regarded him a moment. "So I've been told," he replied mildly. "I'm not here to cause an intergalactic incident, Tolan. I'm here to deliver a message."

"As I understand things, you shouldn't be here at all," the Commander replied. "The last message we received from Gallifrey said that you'd been abducted by Prince Jason."

"That's quite true. He lured me into his ship and then used the TARDIS to escape."

"And you were completely unaware that he was going to do this?"

"Of course I was!" the Doctor replied defensively. "Tolan, he's frightened and desperate."

A pained look came to the Commander's usually unreadable features. "That's a dangerous combination, Doctor."

The Time Lord gave the officer a sympathetic look. Tolan owed a great deal to Jason, and the Doctor could see the current situation was tearing him apart, dividing his loyalties in ways the officer never dreamed they would be. "He didn't harm me, if that's what you're worried about," he said mildly. "He just wanted access to the TARDIS. He didn't know my companion was aboard. If it hadn't been for her, I'd still be his hostage."

Tolan's eyes moved to the collar on the table. "And this?"

"Ah! This is the message." The Doctor turned, holding out a hand. "Before Jason decided to bolt, he asked me to return his Ambassadorial seal to the Emperor. He said, 'If he doesn't want me to have it, I don't want it either,' or words to that effect." He gave an apologetic look. "The thing is I've no idea which insignia is which. So I brought the whole thing."

Tolan reached for the collar. "I'll see that his Majesty gets it."

The Doctor held out a hand, stopping the officer before he could remove anything. "No, Tolan. If you don't mind, I think I should be the one to do it. In many ways I'm responsible for all this." He picked up the collar and draped it over one arm. "I think if anyone is to take the brunt of your Emperor's wrath, it should be me."

The Commander's eyes flickered, his only visible reaction.

"Can you arrange a private audience for me?" the Doctor then asked.

"Yes." The officer opened the door. "Come with me. I'll take you to a more comfortable room where you can wait. As soon as the Emperor learned you were here, he contacted the High Council. He's been in conference with them and his advisers ever since."

The Doctor gave him a quizzical look but did not reply.

o

The Doctor's wait was not as long as he feared it might be. After only an hour, a page appeared to escort him to the Imperial throne room. Two enormous carved doors were pulled open as he approached, closing behind him the moment he stepped inside. He looked around the lavishly decorated room. At the far end of the room, Emperor Quinton sat upon the throne, looking no different from the last time the Time Lord had seen him; a regal figure in every sense of the word. He was a large, imposing man with red hair and beard, and dark chiseled features. His garments were equally impressive: robes of blue and purple velvet trimmed in gold and jewels, and hanging from a gold collar around his neck was the Great Seal of Alterrous, the symbol and source of his Imperial power and authority—its power radiating from him.

The Doctor had known Quinton almost as long as he'd known Jason and felt a twinge of guilt at having to deceive him in this way. He gave a slight bow and started toward the throne, only to stop when the collar he was carrying suddenly spoke. After so many hours of silence, he had almost forgotten it was Jason in disguise. "He knows I'm here."

Before the Doctor could reply, the collar suddenly started to shimmer. He was startled and dismayed when he heard the Alterran give a painful moan at the same time. A split second later, Jason was standing beside him in human form, clinging to him to keep from falling. "He forced me…" he said in a quiet, shocked voice. "I didn't think he could."

The Doctor looked up. "We just want to talk!" he said firmly, continuing slowly toward the throne, supporting his visibly shaken friend.

"By means of deceit?" the Emperor replied coldly as he rose to his feet and came forward.

"By whatever means necessary," the Time Lord retorted sharply. "Quinton, we came to you for help."

The monarch stiffened when the Time Lord called him by name, his face turning to stone "You take liberties, Doctor," he replied coldly.

"Yes, I do, don't I?" came the unrepentant reply. "You know me well enough to realize I wouldn't be here, like this, risking betraying your trust, if there were any other way."

"You're not the one who disappeared without a trace, Doctor," the Emperor replied coldly.

"I can explain that, my lord," Jason said meekly.

"Can you also explain why you abandoned the assignment you were given? We feared you'd been abducted again," the Emperor went on, his anger growing. "Then security informs me that you're aboard your ship, apparently unharmed, and in a completely different section of the quadrant." His voice hardened further as he added, "The same section we suspected the person behind the information leak to be operating from. This was quite illuminating, considering we hadn't given you this information as yet."

The Doctor immediately intervened. "Quinton, Jason didn't betray your trust. We betrayed _his. _He's only guilty of believing he was being sent on a secret mission that _you_ authorized."

"That _I_ authorized?" came the stunned reply. Quinton studied the Time Lord's set expression a moment and then turned, leading the way to his office. "I think you should tell me about it."

o

The Emperor took a seat behind his desk. The Doctor helped the still shaken Prince to a chair and then turned to address the monarch. "Majesty, this whole incident was meticulously planned and stage managed by an expert. He capitalized on Jason's loyalty to you to get him to agree to a secret, emergency mission and then manipulated the events once he was there. Even _I _believed the illusion."

"And do you know who this expert is?" Quinton asked.

It was Jason who replied, "We believe it's former Mission Coordinator Trevor, majesty."

"Trevor!" the monarch gasped. "You can't be serious. He had a complete mental breakdown years ago."

"Majesty," the Doctor broke in, "we utilized the Matrix of Time to review what happened. As far as we can determine, he acted alone and is the person behind everything. And according to Jason, he has the expertise."

"This is unbelievable," the Emperor replied, sitting back in his chair.

"The only thing we have yet to determine is how he learned of your investigation," the Doctor added.

The Emperor turned questioningly to Jason, who met his skeptical gaze unflinchingly. "Sir, the Doctor didn't believe me either. Trevor had him believing I had turned my back on…well, everything and that I wanted to kill him. He even told him that we'd been partners. Once the initial illusion was planted, everything I said or did just seemed to confirm it."

"It wasn't until I viewed the Matrix archive that I realized how completely I'd been manipulated," the Doctor informed. "And how horribly I had misjudged Jason. He truly is innocent."

"Indeed," the Emperor replied thoughtfully, mulling this over in his mind. From the outset it had been extremely difficult for him to believe that his nephew could have been working as a double agent. Selling the secrets he learned while leading one of the best teams of investigators the Empire could offer. Many had speculated that the Prince's kidnapping had caused him to snap, that he was not the same idealist he had once been. Then all the evidence from Gallifrey started to arrive, forcing the monarch to strip Jason of his Ambassadorial status. To his further regret, he had waved Alterran jurisdiction, allowing Gallifrey to carry out its inquiries and impose any sentence they saw fit. Now, suddenly, he was being told it was all a lie. A deception created by another very skilled Alterran agent. Perhaps they were training their people too well.

"The only way I can prove my innocence to you is if you read my mind," Jason said challengingly. "Take my memories. You'll know if I'm lying or not."

The monarch could easily take the Prince's thoughts, with or without his permission. For him to offer them willingly did more to point to his innocence than anything else he might have said. "Are you sure?" he asked calmly.

"Yes, sir."

The Emperor placed a hand on the Great Seal and it flared as telepathic contact was made. Jason had a hand on the Doctor's arm and his friend felt his grip tighten as the link was established. All the details surrounding Eldeberon, the subsequent inquiry and trial were pulled from the Prince's mind. It was an overwhelming experience and he was grateful he was already sitting down, thinking he would very likely have fallen to the floor.

Quinton turned his unwavering gaze on the Doctor. "Would you tell me your side, Doctor?" he asked, his voice having softened considerably.

The Time Lord gave a slight bow. "Just take it slowly," he replied calmly as he sat down. He closed his eyes, clearing his mind of all thoughts. Then he concentrated on Eldeberon, the inquiry and the Matrix extracts. Within seconds, the information was flooding out of him. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes. While not completely overwhelmed by the experience, he was still visibly shaken by the enormity of the power the link utilized.

The Emperor sat thoughtfully a moment and then held out a hand. Jason was suddenly frozen into place, looking as if he had turned to stone. "There's something more that you're not telling me, Doctor," the monarch said firmly.

The Time Lord blinked, looking over at his motionless, seemingly petrified friend. "What did you do?" he practically demanded.

"I've suspended him so he can't hear our conversation," the monarch replied calmly.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"There's something more to this. Something from the past. Something you believe Jason still holds against you," the sovereign stated firmly. "What is that something?"

"It isn't important," the Time Lord said dismissively, waving a hand in the air.

A ghost of a smile came to the Emperor's face. "If it weren't important, you wouldn't've tried to conceal it from me."

The logic was inescapable and the Doctor sighed heavily. He explained that when he and Jason had last encountered one another, he had been pulled through several layers of his own alternate timelines. An alternate self managed to break through and went on to physically attack Jason, who at the time was in a physically weakened condition and extremely vulnerable. The only reason he had not been killed was because the timelines reverted at the last second, returning the Time Lord back to his proper place and sending the alternate back from whence it came.

For reasons he could not explain, the Doctor had retained the memories of what his alternate self had done. The incident quite naturally traumatized Jason who found the story difficult, if not impossible, to accept. The Doctor feared he had completely lost his friend's trust forever. It was this act—this mistake—that he assumed was the driving force behind the Alterran's unbelievably violent behavior towards him and was the root cause of his own misinterpretation of the facts.

"Doctor," the Emperor said mildly, "he never would've attempted something this dangerous if he didn't trust you implicitly."

"I know," the Doctor replied sadly. "I misjudged him in the worst possible way. I should've known better. Instead, I hurt him immeasurably. I don't think I can ever make it up to him."

Quinton gave him a steady look. "Doctor, don't mistake his passionate nature with condemnation. Despite his protestations to the contrary, he'd forgive you anything. You're his best friend, his mentor and his guide to mental stability. He loves you, deeply, fervently." The monarch could not help smiling at the astonished look this announcement produced.

"You can't've seen all that in the mind link, surely?" came the amazed reply.

"You trained Jason well, Doctor, but he still can't shield his thoughts as you can. Or perhaps he didn't want to," the Emperor replied mildly. "He isn't angry with you for misjudging him. He's angry with Trevor for causing it."

A pained look came to the Time Lord's face. "He could've died on my account, and how did I thank him? I abandoned him."

"It would appear, Doctor, that it's _you_ who must learn to trust."

The Doctor glanced in Jason's direction and sighed heavily. "Apparently so." Then he turned an annoyed and accusing look in the Emperor's direction. "Why is it, Quinton, whenever I see you you give me these deep and unsettling insights into Jason's psyche?" he asked in an irritated tone.

The Emperor gave him an amused half smile. "You're still his guide, Doctor. _That_ hasn't changed," he stated firmly. "Time to bring him back." He held out a hand and his nephew immediately came back to life, having no idea that any time had past. Jason glanced over at the Doctor before asking, "Do you believe us? Do you believe _me_, my lord?"

"Jason, up until now, you've never broken my trust—" the monarch began firmly.

A small cry escaped the Prince and he dropped to his knees. "Forgive me! My deception wasn't meant to offend!"

Quinton sighed heavily. "My dear nephew, please, don't grovel. It's undignified," he said in an almost embarrassed tone. He came around his desk, pulling Jason to his feet. "And let me finish before you start throwing yourself on my mercy," he reproved mildly. "I was trying to say that up until now you've never broken my trust, nor have I yours."

Jason blinked, throwing a bewildered look in the Doctor's direction. What the Emperor said next stunned them both. "Can _you _forgive _me_?"

**oOo END PART FIVE oOo**


	55. Part Six: Gesture Of Good Faith

**PART SIX  
MANHUNT**

**CHAPTER 55**

**GESTURE OF GOOD FAITH**

"I've never heard of this planet," Jason observed as the Doctor entered the coordinates into the navigational computer.

"Nor I," the Doctor replied. "But according to Tolan, Trevor was apparently last seen there."

"Does this Trevor have a last name," Mel wanted to know. "You've never said."

Jason gave a bittersweet smile. "Krystovan."

This surprised even the Doctor. "Something else in common?" he said as he hit the dematerialization switch.

The Alterran's pensive expression did not change. "One of my many hundreds of relatives in the House of Krystovan. A cousin a dozen times removed, probably. He's considerably older than I am."

The Doctor looked up. "But you're of higher rank, aren't you?"

"Yes. That's only because my father is that much older than everybody else," Jason replied with a sigh. "As his heir, I'm next in line. In fact, I…um, unseated Trevor as second in line."

The Doctor did not remark on this latest revelation. He studied his friend a moment, a concerned look coming to his face. "You look exhausted. The mind link with the Emperor took a lot out of you, didn't it?"

Jason gave a small smile. "I'll be alright."

The Doctor already had his friend by the arm and was steering him to the inner door. "We have no idea how long this manhunt is going to take," he said firmly. "You've been awake the equivalent of three straight days with only a few hours sleep in between. Now I want you to get some rest before you drop from exhaustion."

Jason was about to protest but was prevented when his knees gave way, seeming to verify the Doctor's very prediction. Were it not for the fact that his friend already had a firm grip on him, he would have fallen to the floor. "Okay, I need to rest," the Alterran admitted grumpily.

By the time they arrived at Jason's cabin, he had sufficiently recovered to walk under his own power. The Doctor turned to go as his friend entered the main room, turning when he called him back. Jason crossed to a keypad set in a sidewall and entered a code. There was a beep and a panel slide open.

The Doctor came into the room and watched in bewilderment, wondering what his friend had in mind now. He stiffened involuntarily when the Prince turned back to face him with an Alterran energy weapon in his hands. Unlike the stasers, this formidable weapon would not just kill an Alterran, it was so powerful that all but its lowest stun setting would kill him, too.

Seeing the apprehensive look on the Time Lord's face, Jason could not help smiling. "I'm not going to shoot you again," he said mildly as he crossed the room. He held out the weapon. "I want _you _to have this."

The Time Lord was completely thrown. "What?"

"Words are easy," Jason stated flatly. "But after everything that's happened, I think a gesture of good faith is in order."

"Jason, as you pointed out so eloquently, even after viewing the Matrix archive I was still questioning your motives," the Doctor reminded firmly. "If anyone should be making a gesture, it's me."

"Alright, point taken. But you're the one who always seems to be—I don't know, at a disadvantage around me. I can't help wondering if that's the cause of some of your misgivings."

"You've already proved you don't have to physically overpower me to have the advantage."

Jason scowled a moment. Then his face cleared. "Computer, total system exemption—The Doctor," he ordered.

"Acknowledged," the computer replied.

"There. Now nothing will prevent you from shooting me," the Prince informed. "And you can countermand _all_ my orders."

The Doctor was taken aback. If this wasn't a gesture of trust nothing was.

"Anyway," Jason said seriously, "if we do find Trevor, I've a feeling you're going to need it just to even the odds." He held out the weapon again. "Please, take it."

The Doctor stood thoughtfully a moment, looking down at the weapon in distaste. He detested guns and as a rule refused to even carry one. The current situation seemed to be an exception to all the rules, however, and he reached for the weapon only to have Jason suddenly pulled it back. "Under one condition," the Prince said firmly.

"I had a feeling there might be one," the Time Lord said guardedly.

Jason flashed another smile. "Please, don't give it to Mel. Or she'll be shooting me next."

The Doctor actually laughed at this. "Agreed," he grinned, slipping the weapon into his pocket.

* * *

As the Doctor suspected, the hunt for Trevor was not an easy one. Several days passed without success. They utilized the leads supplied by the Alterran Imperial Guard, all of which proved to be dead ends. Finally, Jason suggested that Tolan contact his own team. It was they who found the location where the TARDIS next materialized.

The Doctor went to retrieve Jason, finding him peacefully sleeping in his whirlpool. Considering how little his friend had slept in the past few weeks, he hated having to wake him for what might turn out to be yet another dead end.

"Jason, we've arrived," he said quietly.

The Alterran did not seem to respond, although he was certain he had heard him. After a few seconds, he submerged, reemerging in his human form.

"Sleep well?" the Time Lord asked conversationally.

"Yes," Jason replied happily as he climbed out of the tub. "Is this planet inhabited?" he asked conversationally as he quickly dried himself off.

"Doesn't appear to be. It may just be another of his hideouts," the Doctor speculated. "They were shifting an awful lot of cargo from the Sanctuary that last day. It had to go somewhere."

A haunted expression passed over the Alterran's face as the mention of the last day. Shaking off these dark thoughts, he looked in a mirror. "What's the terrain like?"

"Very rocky. We seem to've landed along a ravine or rock ledge," the Doctor replied.

Jason nodded and was suddenly wearing appropriate hiking gear. He turned to his friend, holding out his arms. "Well? Does my choice in wardrobe meet with your approval this time, Doctor?"

The Doctor grinned back. "It does." So saying, he led the way out the door.


	56. Rock Climbing

**CHAPTER 56**

**ROCK CLIMBING**

The TARDIS had materialized on a wide expanse of rock overlooking a narrow ravine. Behind it, a stone wall rose up further, the reddish brown rock catching the sunlight at numerous angles. Jason exited first, going cautiously to the edge of the cliff and looking down to the raging river below.

"Looks a bit like the Grand Canyon, only on a smaller scale," Mel remarked as she came out behind him.

"The Not-So-Grand Canyon?" the Doctor said aridly as he locked the door.

"I don't think they have bridges across the Grand Canyon, do they?" Jason asked, pointing to just such a bridge several yards away. It was narrow and made of stone, but a bridge nonetheless. He looked down towards the river again. "There's a path along side this wall here."

The Time Lord came over to join him. "You're being rather generous calling that ledge a path," he observed darkly. "And that's a very long way down before it widens out."

"You're not afraid of heights, are you, Doctor?" the Alterran asked amusedly.

"Only plummeting from them," came the succinct reply.

"Don't worry, your paratereseomania will be the death of you."

The Doctor gave him a sideways look. "It that an official diagnosis, Healer Jason?"

"No charge," Jason replied with a smile.

"I'm glad you know what he's talking about," Mel injected.

The Alterran threw an amused look in her direction. "Paratereseomania is an insane desire to investigate new scenes and subjects."

"How apt."

"That's enough from the pair of you," the Time Lord admonished, waving a hand at them.

Jason turned back to look down the path, the smile vanishing from his face. "There's someone down there."

The Doctor turned back just in time to see a fleeting figure disappear into the shadows. "I think we've found our man," he said in a satisfied voice. He started toward the path, stopping when Jason took hold of his sleeve. "I think I should go first," the Alterran said firmly. "Then if you fall, you'll have something soft to land on."

The Doctor did not reply, knowing that he wasn't joking. Should he or Mel lose their balance and fall, the Alterran would turn himself into something large and soft that would break their fall.

The path was indeed little more than a ledge and Jason started down slowly, keeping his back against the wall. He held out a hand and the Doctor took it, copying his descent. Then he in turn held out his other hand to Mel.

"Be sure to keep a look out for Trevor," the Doctor instructed as he inched his way along the narrow footpath. "I'd hate to have him spring out at us when we're only halfway down."

"Don't worry," Jason replied mildly, "I've got my sensors wide open." He squeezed the Time Lord's hand, adding, "I could tell you a thing or two about your blood pressure and adrenaline levels right about now."

"This is no time to be showing off," the Doctor retorted, throwing a quelling look back at Mel as she giggled at this exchange.

Jason giggled as well. "Just a few more feet and the path widens out. We'll be able to—" He broke off and stopped dead, closing his eyes and listening. "I thought I heard something."

"Then you probably did," the Doctor replied tersely. "What did you hear?"

"I'm not sure. The water's hard to filter out the closer I get to it. I sounded like…footsteps, or something scraping on the ground."

After a few more feet, they reached the point where the path opened up so they could all walk without fear of falling off the edge. Jason went cautiously to where he had seen the fleeting figure and touched the wall, scanning it for the presence of a disguised Alterran. "No one here now," he informed. He wasn't sure if he should be relieved or disappointed.

"I suggest we look a little further on," the Doctor said, nodding on ahead of them. "That looks promising." There was an arched bridge crossing the river some distance away, across from which was what looked like the entrance to a cave. He exchanged glances with his companions before setting off towards the bridge.

* * *

The Doctor entered the cave, finding stack upon stack of crates and boxes. "Mother load," Jason remarked as he came in behind him.

The Doctor nodded. Then a sudden thought struck him and he pulled his companions back behind a stack. "What if Justin and friends are here as well?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"I'd say that would complicate matters," Jason replied quietly.

The Time Lord took a quick peek around the stack, seeing no one. "They weren't exactly taciturn, were they? And I don't hear a thing."

Jason closed his eyes and listened a few seconds. He cocked his head to one side and opened his eyes. "There's somebody here," he observed quietly, pointing further ahead. "That way."

The Doctor looked in the direction indicated and then turned back to his companions. "Mel, stay very close to Jason," he instructed suddenly.

The Alterran looked back at her and held out a hand, which she immediately took hold of. He turned back to see the Time Lord looking at him, his face uncharacteristically serious. "If you're going to protect someone, Jason, protect Mel," he said firmly. "She doesn't know exactly what we're up against."

"I will," Jason promised.

The three moved out quietly. The cave ended with a system of tunnels that had numerous rooms going off in every direction. After several minutes, they had gone from room to room, finding nothing but more crates. Suddenly there was the sound of feet on wood, and a familiar robed figure appeared atop a stack of crates. He was looking around, apparently having heard the time travelers approaching.

"Trevor!" the Doctor called out, causing the figure to turn in his direction. He pulled back his hood, revealing his face.

"So, you survived, Doctor. I'm impressed. Have you come for my little stash?"

Jason appeared beside the Doctor. "We're not after your stash. We're after you."

Trevor stiffened, his eyes narrowing when he saw him. He stood motionless for a long time before shouting, "Then come and get me!" He jumped down from the crate he was standing on and ran.

The Doctor was already running after him, threading his way through the stacks. He did not even notice when an enormous stack moved from one spot to the next, cutting him off from his companions. At the same time, the ventilation system came to life and the room was filled with the sound of the enormous fans as the air was circulated through the elaborate system of tunnels.

Jason came up to where he had seen the Doctor turn, coming face to face with a wall of wood. "No!" he exclaimed angrily, slamming his fist on a crate and causing it to crack. He looked around to see if he might have been mistaken. "Doctor, where are you?" he called, but knew he wouldn't be heard over the fans.

"He can't've vanished," Mel protested.

"Well, he has. Damn the man! He's going to get himself killed," the Alterran growled in annoyance. "Come on, we have to find the way around this." He took Mel by the hand again and started back, searching for another way out.

* * *

At one point, the Doctor thought he had lost sight of his quarry, only to have him reappear further on ahead. After several more minutes chase, he lost sight of the fleeing figure and eventually stopped to catch he breath. He turned back to remark to his companions, and finally noticed that they weren't there.

"Melanie! Jason!" he called at the top of his voice. "Where are you?" He growled a few curses at himself for having gotten carried away in the moment. Now the only thing to do was to get back out into the open.

There was light streaming in up ahead that looked like daylight and he headed towards it, eventually finding his way back into the outdoors. The exit led to a tall, narrow passage with a footpath leading upward. Since the only other alternative was to return to the tunnels, the Doctor chose the footpath, a heavy sigh escaping him as he struggled up the steep incline. He was halfway to the top when a piece of rock disengaged itself from the tunnel entrance, two blue eyes appearing in its surface, watching him intently as he slowly made his way to the top.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** The mile long mania name that Jason rattles of is for real. I came across it in a Medical Dictionary and, well, how could I not use it?


	57. You've Won

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Finally, the chapter you've all been waiting for.

* * *

**CHAPTER 57**

"**YOU'VE WON."**

When the Doctor finally reached the top of the path, he was surprised to see he was on the opposite side of the ravine directly across from the TARDIS. The maze of tunnels had zigzagged to such an extent that he had completely lost his bearings. Even with the clouds covering the sun, he could easily make out the shape of the Police Box standing against the reddish brown rock face.

"Doctor, where have you been?" came Jason's annoyed inquiry as he appeared at the top of the path behind him.

The Doctor turned back to face him, equally annoyed. "I should like to ask you the same question," he snapped. "One minute you're behind me and the next you've vanished." He scowled disapprovingly. "And where's Mel?"

"Um..." Jason gave him a guilty look and glanced back at the path.

"Jason, you haven't gone and lost Mel, too, have you? You were supposed to be looking after her," the Doctor scolded. He looked down the path the Alterran had just ascended, seeing it empty. "Come on, let's have a look for her."

"No, I've found what I'm looking for."

This was not Jason's voice and the Doctor looked up, taking an alarmed step back. Trevor gave him just long enough to register who he was before reverting to his true form, his tendrils entwining the astonished Time Lord before he could react further.

"You can't fight me, Doctor," Trevor stated amusedly to his struggling captive.

"I case you hadn't noticed, that's exactly what I am doing," the Doctor retorted sharply.

The Alterran's reply was to send a jolt of energy through his captive's body. While it did not knock him unconscious, it was enough to stun him.

Trevor lifted the dazed Time Lord off of his feet, carrying him bodily across the long narrow stone bridge to the opposite side of the ravine. There was a large fabric screen standing before a corner of the rock face that had an image projected on it, completely camouflaging it from view. It wasn't until they were actually behind it that the Doctor even realized it was there.

By this time, the Doctor had recovered from the jolt but wisely chose not to struggle further. His captor bound his hands in front of him, and then dumped him face down on the ground, jamming a long metal pole through his elbows and behind his back, pulling his bindings taut. The Time Lord arched his back, crying out in pain as this was done.

"Where's your bravado now, Doctor?" Trevor sneered as he tightly bound his captive's feet.

"Somewhere on Eldeberon," the Doctor replied through clenched teeth.

"Eldeberon," Trevor growled. "Years of careful planning—wasted!"

The Doctor scowled. _Years?_ He watched as his captor pulled a second screen from alongside the first, completely enclosing the corner. "Was it you who arranged the prison ship hijacking?" he found himself demanding. "And where it would land?"

"What do you think?" Trevor spat back.

"I think you created a mission that was supposed to fail."

"Then you thought right." Trevor activated a holo-projection, camouflaging the second screen and concealing their presence.

There were two upright posts beside the Doctor that had another metal pole slotted into grooves at each end. When he first saw it, he thought it held a body. It wasn't until he was closer that he saw it was a dummy, much like an earth-type scarecrow. Apparently, his captor had been testing the screens. What the Doctor did not know was the hologram generator did more than conceal him visually; it also made him invisible to an Alterran's powerful sensors, which meant Jason would be unable to see his heat signature through the fabric.

Trevor snatched the pole off of the upright supports and threw it aside, tearing the fabric of the scarecrow at the same time. The Doctor was uncertain how long his captor would continue to answer his questions so he pressed on. "Did you destroy the extraction ships as well?"

Trevor seemed to find this question amusing. "That was so simple! They wanted everyone accounted for, even the dead, the fools! All I had to do was plant a few remote control explosives in each corpse, set the timers and—boom!"

Before the Doctor could ask another question, his captor took hold of the pole behind his own back and used it to lift him from the ground, pulling a cry of pain from him. He felt as if his shoulders were being pulled completely out of joint, the binding on his hands digging painfully into his abdomen. The ends of the pole were dropped into the slots where the other had been, suspending him so that his feet barely touched the ground. Trevor removed the torn fabric from a stake in the ground and then secured his prisoner's bound feet to it, anchoring him into place. Now he was the scarecrow, the Doctor thought sardonically.

"I told you we could have a nice chat, didn't I?' the Alterran said conversationally. "A nice little information exchange. And here we are."

"What's the point?" the Time Lord demanded. "You've won. Jason was supposed to find the information leak. Now everyone believes _he was_ the leak and set this whole thing up to cover his involvement. His reputation is in ruins and no one even suspects you. You even had me fooled, and that's no small accomplishment."

"I haven't won!" Trevor exclaimed angrily, giving his prisoner's bindings a painful tug. "He was supposed to die!"

"Why? Once he vanished, the investigation ground to halt."

"Do you really think I went to all this trouble just to stop some ridiculous investigation?" Trevor said derisively, returned to his human form at the same time. "I don't care about that!"

"Do you mean…?" The Doctor blinked, not quite believing what he was hearing. "It was just a coincidence?"

"I thought you were intelligent. But you're just as stupid as the rest of them. You high and mighty Time Lords. You sit back, watching mistakes being made and never lifting a finger to correct them."

The Doctor was now completely lost. "What _are _you talking about?"

"I saw it." Trevor was suddenly rambling. He began pacing back and forth in front of his captive audience, the words tumbling out of him. "It wasn't right and then it happened. He's not fit. Shouldn't even be considered."

"Who's not fit?"

Trevor stopped dead and looked at the Doctor as if he were a complete idiot. How could he not understand? "Jason Krystovan!" he said, sounding as though this should answer everything.

It didn't.

"Trevor, you're not making sense."

"You're a Time Lord and you don't know the future. That's funny. Don't you think that's funny?" came the unintelligible reply. "I saw him. In the Matrix of Time. First they make him king. And then what, hmmm? They'll make him Emperor."

"_What?_" This was absolutely the last thing the Doctor expected to hear. "When did you see this?" he asked cautiously.

"He didn't even understand what it meant."

The Doctor felt as if he were hanging onto this conversation by a thread. "_Who_ didn't?"

"Wythe, when he as Matrix Keeper," Trevor rambled on. "Just a demonstration, he said. But I knew better. I saw the future. He didn't understand. Nobody understood. But I understood."

"You saw Jason as Emperor?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," Trevor replied impatiently, waving his hands in the air. "He was _king._ I knew that was wrong. He was just a Healer. Should've stayed one, too, usurping little mongrel. Then King Terran died. That's when the mistake happened." He was pacing again.

The Doctor knew Jason's history, and this was all true. When they first met, his friend was a Healer, with no indication anywhere that he would, or even could, ascend to the throne. All that changed at some point after Jason stopped traveling with him nearly two centuries ago, which meant that Trevor had seen the Matrix prediction longer ago than that, and for some reason, this one vision of the future had driven him mad.

The Doctor watched his unstable captor cautiously. Somehow, he had managed to trigger this explosion of information, however unintelligible, and wondered how best to get the whole story without sending Trevor completely over the edge—if he hadn't gone over already. "You said he'd be made Emperor," he said guardedly. "Did you see that later?"

"No!" came the exasperated reply. The Alterran looked at him as if he were a stupid child who needed to be told everything. "Don't you _see?_ First King Terran died. That made him Crown Prince. Now he's an Imperial Ambassador. After that, he'll be head of the House of Krystovan and then King. What's next? Emperor, of course. That's the next logical step. I mean, what else is there?"

The Doctor looked at Trevor's proud expression and had a sudden, horrifying realization. "Are you telling me that you wiped out every living being on Eldeberon because you thought maybe, someday, by some miracle,in a possible future, Jason might, by some wild stretch of the imagination, have a slim chance of becoming Emperor?" he asked in utter disbelief.

"Yes!" Trevor cried happily. "You understand!"

"_Understand!_ It's the most outrageous—no, the most hideously _ludicrous_ piece of deductive reasoning I have ever heard in all my lives!" The words were out of the Doctor's mouth before he could stop himself. This was not the thing to say to a raving lunatic. Nor were the next words out of his mouth. "You're insane!"

Trevor pushed on the Doctor's shoulder with one hand to look him in the eye, forcing him upward. With his feet secured to the ground, the Time Lord's body could only go so far and his back pressed painfully into the pole. "I'm going to change the future, Doctor," the Alterran stated flatly. "And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

The Doctor could only respond with a cry of pain as the pressure on his spine increased.

"I could break your back so easily," Trevor said calmly, sounding as if this idea had just occurred to him.

"Yes, you like to break bones, don't you, Trevor?" the Doctor replied through clenched teeth. "I saw what you did to Cardinal Wythe."

"He deserved it!" Trevor cried defensively. "He could've stopped it." He looked the Time Lord in the eye as he realized, "And so could you!" He placed a hand on each shoulder and pushed up hard, pulling a cry of agony from his helpless captive.

On the far side of the chasm, Jason suddenly appeared at the top of the path, a worried look on his face. "Doctor!" he called out. "Doctor, where are you?"

Startled, Trevor spun around, a low growl rising in his throat. Released from his torment, the Doctor sagged in his bonds. Before he could recover enough to call out, his captor was in his true form and had a tendril wrapped threateningly around his throat. "Not a sound," the Alterran hissed. "Or I'll snap your neck like a dried twig."

"You're going to kill me anyway. What difference does it make?" came the defiant reply.

"I want you to watch me change the future first, Time Lord, _that's_ what difference it makes."

"No!" This was all the Doctor managed to say before a gag was unceremoniously jammed into his mouth. He struggled to fight it off so he could call out a warning, but to no avail. Within seconds, he was effectively silenced.

Trevor was now completely consumed by his inner madness. He made certain his prisoner had an unobstructed view before moving off to meet his unsuspecting prey, leaving the Doctor struggling frantically behind him. No one would be able to see him behind the camouflaged screens. He, on the other hand, would have a front row seat in what might end up being Jason's murder.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **If you're reaction to the big reveal of Trevor's actual motives was the same as the Doctor's (WTF!), I ask that you not spoil it for others by giving it away in your reviews. And even if it wasn't, don't give it away, please.


	58. To The Death

**CHAPTER 58**

**TO THE DEATH**

Jason was at the top of the path at the exact spot where Trevor had confronted the Doctor. He had heard the Time Lord's cries of torment as he neared the top of the path, and after his call, he heard him cry out and then abruptly go silent. He turned his gaze in the general direction of the sound, his eyes changing to his more powerful sensors. He searched the area across the ravine without success and wondered if the Doctor were near the river below. He was about to go look when he heard another voice from behind him.

"Jason! Slow down," Mel called out breathlessly. "I'm not a mountain goat." They had already lost the Doctor. The last thing she wanted was to lose him, too. In fact, she had not been in favor of climbing back to the top of the ridge, but he had insisted. Then he suddenly scrambled to the top, leaving her to fend for herself.

"Quiet! I heard the Doctor just now," he snapped impatiently. "He's in trouble."

"He's not the only one," Mel moaned as she slid back slightly on the steep incline.

Jason turned back and was about to go back to retrieve her when the Doctor's disapproving voice suddenly came from out of nowhere. "Where have you two been?"

The Prince spun around, seeing the Time Lord approaching from the opposite direction to where he'd heard the sounds. He looked unharmed and unruffled, which immediately set off an alarm in his head. Jason had not changed his eyes and could see the heat signature of the approaching figure. It was completely wrong. Now he was convinced the Doctor was in trouble, and prayed he was being held somewhere as opposed to simply having been killed.

Jason's eyes returned to their human appearance as he turned back to Mel and took a few steps towards her. "Here, give me your hand."

Mel did as instructed and was pulled to her feet. The Alterran then put his arm around her waist and carried her the remaining distance to the top, setting her gently on her feet. "I thought you said he was in trouble," she remarked, seeing the Doctor walking towards them.

"That's not the Doctor. It can't be," Jason replied quietly. "Something's very wrong, Mel. Get ready to run for the bridge when I tell you."

Mel gave him a stunned look, looking over at the Time Lord as he drew nearer. If that was Trevor, he had gotten everything completely right. She never would have known the difference until it was too late.

Jason turned back and gave the approaching figure an appraising look, a knowing smile coming to his face. "Nice try, Trev," he said evenly. "But now you're trying to be too clever." His words had the desired affect. Trevor's eyes grew angry, his face clouding over. Jason reached out and moved Mel protectively behind him.

"That's right. Protect your human," Trevor taunted.

Mel gave way to an involuntary shudder as this sneering reply came in the Doctor's voice. There was a malicious edge to it that made her hair stand on end.

"You're coming back with us," Jason said coldly. "I'm not taking the fall for what you did."

"You weren't supposed to 'take the fall,' as you put it."

"What was I supposed to do?"

Trevor's eyes blazed with blind hatred. "You were supposed to _die!_ I failed once. But I won't fail a second time." So saying, he was instantly in his true form.

"Run!" Jason ordered as he too reverted to his true self. He remained steadfastly in front of Mel, who let out a small squeak and fled.

The Doctor watched as the standoff on the far side of the ravine began. He had seen Jason fend off another Alterran shortly after they started traveling together. But his opponent at the time did not have the same color eyes and the Doctor could easily tell them apart. This had also been before Jason had passed through what he called "the second phase" during which many of his more formidable powers manifested themselves.

As Mel fled toward the stone bridge that crossed to the Doctor's side of the ravine, he wondered how he could make his presence known. If only there were some way he could— Of course! What an idiot he'd been. He suddenly remembered the weapon Jason had given him all those days ago. It was still in his pocket! He looked down at himself. His hands were pulled back against his body, and his coat was dangling forward. If he could manage it, he might just be able to reach into his pocket. After that, he'd tackle the problem of actually pulling the gun out and firing it.

The Doctor looked up. The standoff was rapidly deteriorating. Any second now…

Trevor suddenly attacked. As the Alterrans came together, there was the sound of electricity aching through the air. The combatants' bodies glowed, throwing off sparks of raw energy as they grappled against one another. It was an impressive and frightening display of power.

The Doctor suddenly remembered what he was trying to do and returned his attention to his hands, fighting with the fabric of his long coat until he managed to maneuver it to where he could reach into his pocket and catch hold of the energy weapon. He was starting to lose the feeling in his hands, and the last thing he wanted to do was drop the gun. He made certain he had a firm grip on it before slowly withdrawing it from his pocket. He could just reach the controls with the fingers of his other hand and struggled to set the weapon to the highest stun setting.

o

"You won't win!" Trevor snarled, sending another massive jolt of energy into his opponent. "I've put too much into this!"

Jason wasn't trying to win. He was just trying to stay alive until Mel made it safely to the other side of the ravine where the TARDIS was located. He increased the power in his own energy field, sending a jolt back into his attacker. The only thing that saved him from being completely overpowered by his older adversary was the fact that he was in the First Circle. "Trevor, I don't want to fight you."

"Then hold still so I can kill you!" he opponent snarled, sending an enormous wave of energy through him.

This jolt was powerful enough to pull a cry of pain from Jason and knock him back several feet. He took stock of his situation and checked on Mel's progress. She was moving very slowly so as not to fall from the long narrow bridge. _Hurry up, Mel_. _I'm getting killed over here. Literally!_

Trevor charged again and Jason stood his ground, taking several more painful jolts before Mel finally reached the other side of the ravine. He allowed himself to be thrown aside, letting the momentum carry him away. Then he made straight for the bridge.

Mel turned just in time to see the Alterran descending on her. She let out a scream as he scooped her up and pulled her from the edge.

"I do wish you wouldn't do that," Jason admonished as he set her back on solid ground again. "I have very sensitive hearing."

Mel pulled away as the tendrils released her. "That's not funny!" she snapped angrily.

"It wasn't meant to be," he snapped back.

"No! I _will_ change the future!" Trevor yelled as he moved towards the bridge.

Mel looked in his direction in dismay. "He doesn't give up," she moaned.

"That's because he's completely insane," Jason replied darkly. "Just keep back."

"Jason, he'll kill you!" Mel protested.

"Not if I can get him to deplete his energy reserves first," he informed knowingly. "He can't keep this up much longer."

Mel noticed the Alterran's body was covered with injuries from the energy exchanges. They looked like scorch marks and she wondered if they also felt like them. "How long can _you_ keep this up?" she asked worriedly.

"As long as I have to!" Jason replied forcefully. He suddenly thrust something into Mel's hand. "Here, take this."

Mel opened her hand. "A key?"

"It's my key to the TARDIS," the Alterran informed startlingly. "As soon as he starts in again, get to the TARDIS and stay there. I promised the Doctor I'd look after you and that's exactly what I'm doing."

Before Mel could reply, Trevor was across the bridge and descending on them. Jason quickly moved to intercept him. "Now, Mel! Run!" he ordered.

Trevor was so focused on destroying the future that he completely forgot about the present and the captive Time Lord concealed only a few yards away.

With the combatants at closer quarters, the Doctor felt he had a better chance of hitting them and waited for the opportunity to fire. All he needed was for them to get in front of him and he could stun them, saving Jason and capturing Trevor at the same time.

Suddenly Mel was dashing past and the Doctor tried desperately to call out to her. He knew she couldn't see him, but hoped she might at least hear him and come looking. Unfortunately, his muffled cries were drowned out by the sound of the energy exchanges. After several agonizing minutes the fight moved into his line of fire. He aimed as best he could and fired three shots in quick succession.

Mel had no idea who was who anymore. She was almost to the TARDIS and turned back, seeing the Alterrans separate again. Then she nearly jumped out of her skin when three energy bolts suddenly erupted out of nowhere.

The first shot missed completely.

Mel thought the second shot passed between them, but saw the Alterran furthest from her jerk back as if he'd been hit. He did not make a sound as he was thrown to the ground.

The third shot struck home, hitting this individual full on. He gave a horrible shriek, flailing wildly within the glowing ball of energy before dropping into a heap on the ground. Neither of them moved after that. Mel had no idea if they were alive or dead and was not about to get close enough to check.

The Doctor, in the meantime, was staring in shock, his eyes wide. He looked down and saw, to his horror, that he had inadvertently set the weapon to kill. _What have I done?_ he thought mournfully. He closed his eyes and sagged, lowering his head in remorse, the offending weapon dropping from his hand.


	59. What Have I Done?

**CHAPTER 59**

**WHAT HAVE I DONE?**

Once the initial shock had worn off, Mel looked in the direction of the shots. She saw a gaping hole in what looked like the rock face and scowled. There was light moving on it in a strange way and she moved closer, realizing that it was actually a piece of fabric with a hole torn in it. She caught her breath when she looked through the opening and saw the Doctor's securely bound form suspended from a pole. He looked like he was either unconscious or dead.

"Doctor!"

The Time Lord jolted up at his companion's call. He appeared just as relieved and delighted to see her as she was to see him.

Mel pulled on the fabric, tearing the hole to make it large enough for her to climb through. "Are you alright?" she asked as she pulled the gag from his mouth. He had an odd, almost haunted look on his face.

"Just get me down from here," he said in a strangely subdued voice.

Mel was already attacking the binding on his feet, but could not get the knot to come loose. "It's too tight," she said in annoyance.

"There's a knife in my coat pocket," the Doctor instructed in the same subdued voice.

His companion found the pocketknife and set to work on his bindings, eventually managing to cut them free. He disengaged himself from the pole and dropped to the ground, having lost the feeling in his legs as well as his arms. It took a few minutes for him to get the circulation back to the point where he could stand. Then he turned his attention to the downed Alterrans.

As the Doctor drew nearer, he saw immediately that the individual who had taken the full force of the energy blast was quite dead; the crystalline lattice of his silicon-based cell structure completely shattered.

The second individual had a large white gash across his main body just below his sensors where the energy blast had grazed past him. He was covered with injuries from the energy exchanges, and his sensors were glowing very dimly, an indication that he was alive and conscious—barely.

The Doctor did not yet know that it was Trevor who had taken the full force of the energy blast, nor could Jason tell him. He could do little more than watch as his friends cautiously drew nearer. Mel had picked up the energy weapon and brought it with her, holding it ready as the Doctor examined Trevor's body. Seeing this, Jason was too weak do more than retract his tendrils slightly when the Time Lord announced that he was still alive.

"Is it safe?" Mel asked cautiously.

"Safe?" The Doctor turned, seeing the gun in her hand. "Give me that," he admonished sharply, taking the offending weapon and returning it to his pocket. He then got down beside the injured Alterran to examine his wounds more closely. Jason reacted with pain when the Time Lord touched him, his body shuddering at the same time.

"I know, it hurts, doesn't it?" the Doctor said gently as he examined the worst of his wounds. "I am trying to be careful."

"He's awfully quiet for someone so badly hurt," Mel observed in bewilderment.

The Doctor nodded. "I think his communication center's been damaged."

"His what?"

The Time Lord looked up and pointed to his throat in way of explanation. "He can't speak."

"Which one—I mean, who is he?" Mel asked pointedly.

"I don't know. With all these injuries, I can't tell," the Doctor replied truthfully. "And he can't—" He broke off as he turned back, his hand having touched something metal. There was a chain around what one could loosely be describe as the Alterran's neck, this being the area between his main body and where his appendages began. He reached down and came up with two objects. In the palm of his hand, the Doctor saw the signet ring of the Royal House of Krystovan and Jason's wedding band.

"Jason…" he sighed relievedly. "I thought I'd killed you." He touched one of his tendrils and it weakly wound around his hand in response.

The gash suddenly grew, nearly doubling in size. Again, the Alterran reacted in pain. If he could've made a sound, it would have been to scream. His grip tightened and then went limp, his sensors going dark as he lost consciousness.

Suddenly the Doctor recognized the wound for what it was. "That's lattice damage!"

Mel had no idea what this meant, but from his tone she knew it could not be good. "What does that mean?"

Ignoring the pain in his shoulders, the Doctor lifted his injured friend from the ground "It means if I don't get him to the _ARGO_ fast, he'll die," he said succinctly as he strode off in the direction of the TARDIS.


	60. Now We're Even

**CHAPTER 60**

**NOW WE'RE EVEN**

Jason slowly returned to his senses and tried to focus. _I'm in a box. Why am I in a box? Wait a minute, haven't I been here before?_ Then he heard Mel say, "Doctor, I think he's waking up." He tried to reply and was rewarded with a stabbing pain. This was enough to wake him fully and he realized, with a bit of a jolt, that he was still in his true form. The monitor above him came to life and he read the information, discovering that he'd been in the cabinet for nearly seven hours. He had no memory of being shot, and only knew he had been because of the readings. One second he had been fighting for his life, and the next he was waking up in the recovery cabinet of his own sickbay. As he scanned the data, he heard the Doctor's voice saying, "Jason, don't try to talk. Your communication center's been badly damaged."

Having already figured this out—and then some—the Alterran used the computer within the cabinet to type out a response. **_"__No kidding__."_**

The Doctor gave a surprised cry of delight when the reply flashed up on the monitor screen beside the observation window. He leaned down and looked inside the cabinet, seeing the internal monitor for the first time. "Well, now would you look at that," he remarked approvingly. "Was that a part of your paranoia induced marathon reprogramming session?"

**"_No comment."_**

"What is it?" This was Mel, who was standing beside him.

"He's got his own systems monitor in there," the Doctor said admiringly. He straightened, turning back to his companion. "He probably knows more about his condition now than I do."

**"_Are you okay?"_** Jason then asked.

"Yes, Mel and I came away relatively unscathed," the Time Lord replied.

"_**I heard you."**_

The Doctor scowled. "When?"

**"_Before. I thought you were in trouble."_**

_That is an understatement and a half,_ the Doctor thought. "Yes, Mel told about that. I had a bit of a run in with Trevor. That must be what you heard."

Jason had been scanning the monitor and could find no sign of anyone else being treated on the medical system. One of the transport capsules had been activated, but he could not tell if it was from when he himself had been in it or not. He had a feeling he already knew the answer to his next question before he even asked. _**"What happened to Trevor?"**_

This was one of the questions the Doctor was dreading and he cleared his throat nervously. "You don't remember what happened?" he asked evasively.

_**"****No****. Clearly I've been shot."**_

The Time Lord stiffened involuntarily but did not reply.

After a minute, Jason became impatient_**. "Well…?"**_

The Doctor looked through the observation window, seeing the Alterran's sensors glowing brightly. He was watching him closely and obviously waiting for an answer. "Trevor's dead," he said at last. "He took the full force of an energy blast."

There was no immediate response to this. Despite the fact that Trevor had practically destroyed his life, Jason could not help feeling sorry for him. He had obviously suffered more than a simple mental breakdown. Something had sent him completely over the edge. Nothing else could explain the twisted obsession that spawned the Machiavellian scheme that destroyed an entire planet and very nearly cost him his life. If only he knew what it was? Finally, he asked the next question the Time Lord was dreading. _**"Did you shoot me?"**_

An anguished expression came to the Doctor's face. "Yes, I'm afraid I did."

"_**Dare I ask why?"**_

"It was a mistake. I thought it was set to stun!" the Time Lord cried defensively.

A pause.

"_**A mistake?"**_

The confrontation on the _ARGO_'s flight deck returned vividly to mind and the Doctor growled in anger, although it was himself he was angry with. "Yes. A mistake. You don't think I shot you deliberately, do you?"

"_**You just said you did."**_

The Doctor stiffened involuntarily. Now it seemed that he was the one whose motives were in question. "That's not what I meant and you know it!" he snapped impatiently. "I didn't even want the wretched thing in the first place. You're the one who insisted that I take it."

Jason had no reply for this. The Doctor was right, and he was just being malicious. He had, after all, insisted that his friend take the weapon for his own protection. He also knew that the Doctor would never purposely try to harm him. Not after what they'd just been through. He needed to learn the exact circumstances of what happened—

"This is unbelievable. We're right back where we started," the Doctor said in annoyance, breaking into the Alterran's train of thought.

Mel had been listening in bewilderment. "What?"

The Doctor turned to her, growing angrier with himself by the second. "It was a mistake that turned into a misunderstanding of epic proportions," he replied in exasperation. "That's why everything went spiraling out of control. I didn't believe him, now he doesn't believe me."

"_**Now we're even,"**_ Jason replied.

"Oh, very funny," the Doctor snapped acidly.

At that moment, the Med-computer gave a small beep, ending the argument before it went any further. The Doctor turned his attention to the monitor, scrutinizing the readings. The expression on his face worried Mel. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing's wrong," the Time Lord replied mildly, glancing over at her. "Jason's reached his target energy levels. It's safe for him to come out now."

As if to confirm this, the recovery cabinet opened automatically and the examination table slid out, revealing Jason in his human form. He sat up slowly, swinging his feet over the side of the bed. He looked tired but otherwise unharmed.

"Are you alright?" Mel asked concernedly, going to his side.

The Alterran gave a small smile and nodded. When he spoke, his voice was thick and husky, as if he had a heavy cold. "I just need to get my strength—" He put a hand to his throat, surprised at the sound of his own voice. "—and my voice back." He looked at the Doctor, seeing an anguished expression on his usually bright and cheerful face.

"Jason, I really didn't—" the Time Lord began in an earnest tone.

His friend held up a hand. "The trouble with text is there's no inflection," he said mildly. "I wasn't pointing a finger, Doctor. My bright idea to save you was to put a bullet through your chest. I'm the last person you should be trying to justify yourself to."

"I'm not trying to justify anything," the Doctor said defensively. "It was an accident!"

"_I know,"_ came the insistent reply.

The Doctor was completely thrown by this unexpectedly fervent reply. "You know?"

"Yes. You wouldn't be so adamant if it hadn't been," Jason pointed out astutely. "The last thing we need is for this to turn into another misunderstanding of epic proportions."

"No," the Doctor replied, venturing, "Am I forgiven then?"

Jason gave him an amused smile. "Doctor, you are always forgiven." He regarded his friend steadily. "Am _I _forgiven?" he then asked.

"I'll have to think about that," the Time Lord replied playfully, adding quickly, "Oh, alright. Yes. You're forgiven."

Jason smiled and turned to Mel, who was still beside him. "Any chance of getting something to eat? According to the computer, I've been in there for seven hours. I'm starving."

The Doctor was suddenly all smiles. "Would you like it here, in the galley or bedside service in your cabin, your royal highness?" He crossed to his friend, offering him his arm.

Jason gave him a quizzical look. "What's put you in such a good mood all of a sudden?" he asked suspiciously, clinging to the Time Lord's arm for support as he got unsteadily to his feet.

"I've just realized something," the Doctor replied happily as he turned toward the door.

"What? That I still have an inquiry—sorry, a trial to finish?"

The Doctor stopped, looking off into the distance. "Oh, yes, I was forgetting that," he said thoughtfully. He gave his friend a devilish look, shaking his head. "No. I just realized, with our puppeteer finally dealt with, we can get back to the proper business of taking pot shots at one another without fear of outside interference."

Jason could not help himself and laughed at this observation. "Well, before we start, I better show you the proper settings for that gun."

"What? And take all the fun out of it?"

"I just want you ready for the next alien influence that comes our way."

"Ah, good thinking," the Doctor agreed blandly as they passed through the door. "Alien influences are a dime a dozen these days."

"Really?" the Prince replied, sounding as if this were amazing news.

Mel giggled, following at a discreet distance, not that it mattered. Somehow, she had a feeling that they had already completely forgotten about her.


	61. End Of The Ordeal

**CHAPTER 61**

**END OF THE ORDEAL**

The TARDIS returned to the space station and the same circular storage room it had occupied previously, making another perfect bull's eye as it materialized at the center of the seal of Rassilon. The room was completely empty, just as it had been when the Doctor first arrived.

The Doctor popped his head out and looked around before stepping away from the door. "All clear," he said quietly.

Jason appeared behind him, peering cautiously out the door. He was dressed in his persona as Crown Prince; his clothing elaborate brocade, a gold circlet on his head, a long cape sweeping down his back and his collar of rank gleaming around his neck. "I am not looking forward to this, Doctor," he said darkly.

"If you want to clear your name and get your life back, it's the only way," the Time Lord retorted sharply.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

Mel came up beside him. "Do I really have to stay behind again?" she asked in annoyance.

Jason stepped away from the door and then realized he was going at this the wrong way. He drew himself to his full height and turned back to her. "No," he said firmly. "You shouldn't have to stay behind." He held out a hand to her, a clear sign that she join them.

The Doctor blinked. _Where did this transformation come from?_ "Jason…" he began cautiously.

The Prince gave him a steady look. "No, Doctor, I'm sick of feeling guilty. They made me feel like a criminal. And I didn't do anything wrong!"

"No, you didn't," his Time Lord friend agreed. "Now let's go prove it." So saying, he turned and strode towards the door, the others following behind.

The corridors outside the storeroom were also completely empty. All the observers and additional staff had returned to their duties on Gallifrey after the Alterran's escape nearly a week earlier. The three time travelers were able to cross the short distance to Eustis' office without encountering anyone.

The Inquisitor was working at his desk. He did not even look up when the outer door opened, thinking it to be one of his aides with another report on the continuing search for the _ARGO_. "Any news on Prince Jason's whereabouts?" Eustis asked blandly.

Jason's eyebrows went up. He exchanged a surprised look with the Doctor, who smiled devilishly before saying, "Approximately ten feet to your right, Eustis."

The Inquisitor looked up and jumped, an involuntary cry escaping him.

"I've come to give myself up," the Prince said mildly as he entered the room, the Doctor and Mel coming in behind him.

"Now, Eustis," the Doctor said quickly, "before you do something drastic, like sound an alarm or something, we'd like a private word with you."

"A word?" Eustis said, finding his voice at last.

"Yes," Jason said firmly. "We found Trevor."

* * *

Within hours of their arrival, the Doctor and Jason were back in the courtroom watching as the Matrix screen played out the Doctor's confrontation with Trevor. With each admission, Jason felt the noose around his neck loosening. Then came the unintelligible reasons for it all and Trevor's final admission as being the one to destroy all life on Eldeberon.

When at last the lights came up, the Doctor waited a moment before saying, "My lord, at the beginning of this inquiry, you asked Prince Jason to make a statement. At the time, it seemed to us all to be, if you'll forgive me, a lot of nonsense. In light of this last piece of evidence, it now makes perfect sense." He glanced over to Jason, and asked him to repeat his statement.

The Alterran got to his feet, and for the first time the Inquisitor saw the proud aristocrat who had been hiding within the frightened prisoner all these weeks. "The charges are true and they are not true. Accurate and erroneous. Deception and reality. I am guilty. And I am innocent."

The Doctor paused before saying, "My lord Inquisitor, the defense rests."

"Thank you, Doctor." Eustis turned toward the silent prosecutor. "Have you anything to say, Lord Fitzhugh?"

Even though he had been warned as to the content of the evidence, the prosecutor was still stunned by it. He took a moment to collect himself and gave a slight bow. "My lord, in light of this new evidence, the prosecution respectfully withdraws all charges against Crown Prince Jason of Tel-Shye," Fitzhugh said urbanely.

Eustis gave a small smile turning back to the Alterran Prince, who was standing erect, his head high. "Your royal highness, you are free to go with this court's apologies." He tapped his gavel on the desk. "We are adjourned." He rose to his feet but only received a bow from Fitzhugh.

On the defense side, Jason was receiving a hug from Mel. "I can't believe it's finally over," he sighed relievedly, stepping down from the prisoner's dock for the first time without having to wait for his shackles.

"Once Eustis makes this official, we can get you home," the Doctor said mildly.

"Yes." Jason looked in the direction of Eustis' chambers and held up a hand as a thought occurred to him. "There's something I need to do first," he said mysteriously and made straight for the door.

The Inquisitor was at his computer officially withdrawing all charges against the Crown Prince of Tel-Shye. The door to the courtroom suddenly opened and he glanced towards it, doing a double take when he saw the Prince himself on the threshold. Without realizing, he found himself rising to his feet. "Your royal highness?"

"I came to thank you, Cardinal," Jason said as he entered the room.

Eustis blinked. Considering all he had put him through, this was the last thing he expected to hear. "Thank me?"

The man's bewildered expression brought a smile to the Alterran's face. "For keeping an open mind, sticking to your values, and not giving in to the obvious pressure from the High Council," he said admiringly. The Doctor came up behind him and he nodded in his direction. "And for designating the most unorthodox defense council imaginable for me."

"And not putting you back in chains," the Doctor injected playfully.

"Yeah, that too," Jason grinned. He crossed to the desk and held out a hand. "Thank you for helping me get my life back, Cardinal Eustis."

Eustis looked at the outstretched hand and then up into the Prince's face. "I thought you had a problem with time auras?"

"I do." Jason threw a knowing look in the Doctor's direction. "But I don't have a problem with friends."

**- THE END -**

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I will be posting the story within the story - Mission: Eldeberon - in it's entirety. It is in chronological order and contains scenes that I could not use in the trial without giving the game away. It also combines the multiple points of view, including Trevor's.


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